Letters to the Editor: We need to hear expert voices about disasters such as Storm Babet
BIG PICTURE: An aerial view of Midleton, Co Cork. File picture: Denis Scannell
According to the late Peter O’Reilly in (1991) the Owenacurra river drains a relatively small catchment area of 171sq km of land which is mainly in tillage (ie well drained), which compares with the Munster Blackwater (3,108sq km) and the Liffey (1,373sq km).
Looking at the map, it has a long narrow tidal estuary which obstructs flow. The Dodder hasn’t had a bad flood in almost 40 years because the Bohernabreena reservoir regulates the flow — emptied in anticipation of heavy rain to take the excess, and the ESB also seems to have learned that lesson in Cork.
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