Get my flood warning system for free, inventor tells communities

Businessman Colin James' system was inspired by the tsunami early warning network in his native New Zealand

Rosaleen O’Donnell, proprietor of the HS2 Salon in Midleton, standing in her hair salon which was destroyed by flood water brought by Storm Babet in October 2023. Picture: Dan Linehan

The man behind what is believed to be the only flood warning system of its kind in Ireland has urged any community group that wants his system to get in touch.

Colin James, who designed the Midleton Early Warning System (MEWS) after Storm Babet devastated the East Cork town in 2023, says he is happy to share his designs for free.

Flash floods ripped through the town, leaving main roads and most open spaces submerged under water.

The floods, which local Fianna Fáil TD James O’Connor described at the time as “biblical”, damaged more than 400 homes and 286 businesses.

Some residents have admitted to suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression — and live in fear their homes will be flooded again.

Businessman Mr James' system was inspired by the tsunami early warning network in his native New Zealand.

That system tracks sea-level changes and provides real-time data as events unfold, while his tracks river levels and tidal variances.

Launched in May 2025 after a short pilot phase, MEWS sends alerts to 5,500 registered users when water levels exceed 50% above normal water levels in Midleton’s Owenacurra River, and several of its tributaries.

The data comes from 17 sensors monitoring river levels, which an artificial intelligence (AI) bot analyses in seconds to calculate flow rates.

Texts are automatically sent after each significant increase beyond a certain threshold.

Last November, although the system recorded its highest readings, it was intelligent enough to figure out there was no significant risk.

This was because the increase occurred gradually over several hours, and the system had calculated that the river's flow rate was low.

This indicated that although river levels were high at the time, they were not rising rapidly enough to signal a risk of severe flooding.

His system has not been adopted by either Cork County Council or the Office of Public Works (OPW), which is the lead organisation for flood risk management in Ireland.

As a result, Mr James says he has become “disillusioned” with trying to get either the council or the OPW to adopt or extend his system.

He now plans just to maintain MEWS as a “hobby”.

But he said that he would willingly help any community group interested in setting one up in their own area.

He said: “MEWS works, but I can’t see it being adopted by either the council or the OPW.

“While I have spoken to the council, nobody from the OPW has been in touch with me about it.

“There just doesn’t seem to be the level of interest I would have thought there would be in a system that can give people up to 30 minutes' warning that they are at risk of severe flooding.

“That is enough time for people to put up their flood barriers, move cars to higher ground and lift valuables off the floor.

“However, if any community body wants to adopt MEWS for their own community, they should feel free to contact me.” 

Mr James, who is a director in global marketing firm Omnihyper, added: “I set the system up because I wanted to see how I could help after what happened in Midleton in 2023, and that is all. It was never designed to be a commercial venture.

“I designed it because I live in Midleton and just wanted to help. Now that it works, I’d love to see others benefit from it.”