Motorists cleared out as city is submerged again

Traders in

Cork

city centre are

counting the cost this morning after a combination of high tides and strong southeasterly winds sent flood waters washing down several streets last night.

Flood protection measures put in place earlier in the day helped to reduce the extent of the damage however.

Gardaí began to close off large sections of the city centre to traffic from 7pm as the north and south channels of the River Lee began to burst their banks.

Union Quay, George's Quay, Sullivan's Quay and Wandesford Quay along with Morrison's Island were all flooded before 8pm when the south channel burst its banks. The north channel also overflowed quay walls and flooded Kyrl's Quay and Cornmarket Street.

At about 8pm flood waters began to flow into the South Mall and from there along Pembroke Street, Marlborough Street, Cook Street and Princes Street on to Oliver Plunkett Street where traders had borne the brunt of the damage on Monday morning.

High tide at 8.53pm saw up to two feet of water in Oliver Plunkett Street prompting a few people to try swimming in the flooded street despite warnings from the HSE about the dangers of coming into contact with flood waters.

The flood waters continued to spill north towards Patrick Street. However, the extent of the flooding in Cork’s main shopping street appeared to be less than it was on Monday morning.

Last night’s flooding was primarily due to high tides of almost three metres combined with strong southeasterly winds which, according to Met Eireann, gusted to a maximum 107kph but remained steady throughout the day at about 80kph.

Heavy rain yesterday afternoon in Cork saw 13mm fall between 2pm and 8pm which, added to the 200mm that fell in January, meant that there was high run-off along the Lee valley into the river upstream of the city.

Cork City Council yesterday hosted a meeting of the Flood Emergency Response Group at 3pm with representatives of the Defence Forces, the Naval Service, Gardaí, the HSE and the Port of Cork attending as well as city council officials.

According to the council, it distributed 2,000 sandbags to homeowners and business people in low lying areas of the city. There were hectic scenes in Oliver Plunkett Street in the afternoon as traders and other people stocked up on sandbags to protect their properties.

Motorists were urged to avoid the city centre between 8pm and 10pm. Pedestrians were urged to avoid the city centre because of the danger of falling into manholes.

The planned closure of the Jack Lynch tunnel from 8pm last night for maintenance was deferred until 10pm. Shutting the tunnel at 8pm would have increased the number of cars going through the city centre at flood times.

In West Cork, Wolfe Tone Square in Bantry was under two feet of water as high tides spilled over the quay wall at about 7pm. Bridge Street in Skibbereen also flooded as did Strand Road and the Ring Road in Clonakilty. In East Cork, Cobh was cut off for a period as the main Cork to Cobh road flooded at Belvelly. The train service was cancelled because of flooding on the tracks. The cross-river ferry from Glenbrook to Carrigaloe was cancelled because of high seas.