Clean up under way in Bantry as Cork city escapes major floods
A Christmas tree stands on a flooded Morrisons Quay in Cork city yesterday during Storm Barra. Photo: Daragh McSweeney/Provision
Cork city came within two centimetres of a potentially major flood on Tuesday as coastal areas were battered by Storm Barra.
While city traders breathed a sigh of relief again, a major clean-up operation was under way in Bantry where almost 30, mostly commercial, premises were flooded.
With gusts on Sherkin Island hitting 135kph and sustained 10-minute mean wind speeds of 111kph, the storm surge combined with a high astronomical tide and high waves to overwhelm Bantry’s temporary defences at high tide at 5.30am, flooding the town’s low lying areas.
County council crews and fire fighters manned six water pumps from early morning which along with the town's temporary flood defences, helped minimise the damage. Most properties escaped with minor flooding.
Danielle Delaney, chairperson of the Bantry Business Association, said this was the town’s fourth flood in 18 months.
“It’s sad to say but we are getting used to it,” she said.
“The town was effectively closed for business. It’s hard to assess the level of damage yet because many business owners could not travel in with the winds.
“I spoke to a man today who remembers the town flooding in 1956. More than 60 years later and it’s still flooding. Something has to be done.
She said that the storm highlighted the strong community spirit in the town with people dropping beleaguered business owners coffees as they tried to clean their premises. And the fire fighters, who worked to stem the tide from 5am, were invited to breakfast at the local hotel later.
“People are trying to look after each other. But we can’t keep doing this over and over again," she said.
Flooding also occurred in Midleton and on the Back Street in Youghal but the floodwaters receded quickly.
Driving conditions were hazardous and a truck overturned on the M8 near Fermoy, between Junction 13 and 15. The driver escaped serious injury.
There were multiple reports of fallen trees, downed cables, flooded roads across the city and county, with the R571 between Castletownbere and Eyeries rendered impassable for a time.
Water supplies in Drinagh, Whiddy Island, Carrigtwohill, Blarney, Tower and Clondrohid were disrupted due to power outages and burst mains - some of which were caused by the storm. Households in Eyeries and Ardgroom were also without water for a time yesterday afternoon when stores of treated water were depleted following a power outage at a treatment plant.
Thousands of homes across Cork lost power, with almost 1,000 premises affected in Bantry, over 450 in the Ballydehob area, as well as smaller faults in Cobh, Ballincollig, Bishopstown, Mayfield, Kilmoney, Kinsale and Timoleague.
In Cork city, the storm surge added 0.63m — just over half a metre — to an already high spring tide just before 7.30am, leading to flooding on the low-lying quays. There was no major property damage.
When certain conditions combine, the low-lying quays flood at tide levels of 2.4m Ordnance Datum (OD). The South Mall floods when the tide reaches 2.5m OD, with Oliver Plunkett St and St Patrick’s St at risk of flooding at 2.7m OD and above.
Tuesday’s flood peaked at 2.68m OD — just 2cm short of a potentially major flood event. The October 2020 flood reached around 2.83m OD.
President of the Cork Business Association, Eoin O’Sullivan, said flood alerts cause unnecessary stress, especially where solutions have been proposed.
"It has been an extremely difficult time for many traders over the last 18-months and if we can avoid situations like this, we should," he said. “The delay on the Morrison's Island flood defence project is disappointing but hopefully we will see progress on it in the coming months."
Several flights from Cork Airport were cancelled and there were a number of diversions as pilots battled difficult wind conditions on approach.
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