Flood controllers in the firing line

I AM a resident of the Cork city area which was flooded at this time last year. Recently we had flood warnings on radio and TV — high tides, flooding of the River Lee, heavy rainfall and, on top of this, a hurricane coming in from the Atlantic.

All this similar to conditions last year (hurricane and warnings omitted) and guess what, we were not flooded, not even water coming up the drains or lodging on the streets.

Taking into account also that the breach in the quay wall in Grenville Place has not been repaired (Cornmarket Street paving has priority over this), no flooding occurred here.

The simple answer for this is the fact that the ESB kept its dam gates shut at the critical time of high water in the city. Had this procedure been carried out last year, we would not have been flooded and the millions of euro in damage and the residents’ distress and loss of property, plus trouble with insurance claims, not to mention the raising of premiums with no flood cover, all could have been avoided.

Please disregard all the excuses that have been put forward by those responsible for the disaster — all the graphs, water discharge figures (which mean nothing to the lay person), along with Met Eireann and others throwing in their tuppence worth to further confuse the situation and the unfortunate people who took the brunt of the total incompetence of those in charge. Remember the dams were built primarily to produce hydroelectricity and control the flooding of the River Lee.

Some control, don’t you think? Someone did not read the manual.

Denis and Mary Barrett

Anne Street

(off Washington Street)

Cork