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800-year flood levels drown Irish villages and towns

Flood waters still rising across Ireland after days of storms

By
DONAL THORNTON,
Irish Central.com

Published Saturday, November 21, 2009, 1:44 PM
Updated Sunday, November 22, 2009, 10:26 AM

 

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800 year floods: Cars submerged in Cork after the River Lee burst its banks and flooded the city center
800 year floods: Cars submerged in Cork after the River Lee burst its banks and flooded the city center

Cities and villages in Ireland are waterlogged disaster areas this weekend after a "once-in-800-years" flooding.

There has been severe flooding in the south and west with Cork the worst hit.

Rivers burst their banks from the persistent rainfall while high tides and storm force winds threatened coastal areas with sea flooding.

Rail services along the west coast have been suspended while roads are closed in many areas.

Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen says the immediate priority was to provide shelter and safe drinking water.

In Cork, residents have already been told to avoid tap water after the waterworks were flooded.

Environment Minister John Gormley said was a "we have been told this is a once-in-800 years event."

The rising flood waters now cover tens of thousands of acres of land and insurance companies say they expect the floods to cost in excess of €100m ($148m).

In Cork, parts of the city are under three feet of water after the River Lee burst its banks and flooded Grand Parade and Washington Street and large parts of the city center.

Emergency room access at Mercy Hospital was cut off after a nearby wall was toppled by the rising floodwaters.

The campus of the famed University College Cork was also under water.

In Bantry, the town was cut off and callers to RTE radio appealed for help. One woman in Kinsale said she needed help to remove a tree from her roof and a disabled woman in Sunday's Well in Cork City called in to say she had no way out of her house.

The Irish weather service Met Eireann said the misery looks set to continue with more heavy rain and gales over the weekend.

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5 Comments

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Posted by Kathleen55 on Jan 13, 2010, 10:16 AM EST
How are the folks in Roscommon doing? Is there much flooding there?
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Posted by killowen on Nov 23, 2009, 09:32 PM EST
Here is an opportunity for the government to put folks to work, shoring up the banks of rivers and such across the breath of ol erin. Under the sea Holland has no problems with flooding or so I hear.
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Posted by kickstar on Nov 23, 2009, 08:01 PM EST
There's plenty more heading Ireland's way.
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Posted by carrickcourt on Nov 23, 2009, 08:57 AM EST
Interesting that all the rain in Ireland and UK is associated with the fetch of the late Hurricane Ida that effected the eastern USA, according to the Weather channel. One of my Irish third cousins in Dublin reported on the all the rain in Dublin, nothing though compared to what the south and west of Ireland has received.
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Posted by dunbekin36 on Nov 22, 2009, 02:03 PM EST
Open up your bibles and start praying.
 


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