As the waters of the swollen River Suir continued to cascade on to some Clonmel streets yesterday, the Co Tipperary town was counting the cost of its fourth major flood in less than three years.
Workmen were hanging Christmas lights in the unaffected shopping streets and in some quarters there was an almost fatalistic attitude to the latest inundation. "I shouldn't say it but we're almost getting used to being under water," said one businessman.
However, there was increasing anger among the residents most seriously affected by each incident - those living in low-lying streets around the river and its bridges. They have convened a public meeting in the town tonight to discuss their options.
At McDonagh Crescent, beside the Old Bridge, the occupants of the six houses have been more or less trapped in their homes since Monday night. Mrs Alice Cantwell has not been able to go shopping for two days. "I've loads of people doing bits for me," she said.
Once more, vulnerable residents have gone through the ritual they last endured at the August bank holiday weekend - taking up carpets, moving furniture upstairs, in some cases even leaving their homes to stay with friends and relatives.
"No insurance company will take us now," said Mrs Cantwell. "We've no compensation or anything." Mr Jackie Mannix of O'Connell Terrace helplessly watched the water come to within inches of his sandbagged hall door and then mercifully recede. He believes there must be major dredging of the Suir, as years of silt have accumulated, preventing water seepage and raising the river levels.
Borough engineer Mr Jim Keating says the water level peaked at about an inch higher this time than during the August flooding. But on this occasion there was enough warning to allow emergency preparations.
"By Monday it was clear that the river was going to overflow and we brought our teams into action," he said.
Sandbags were distributed for doorways, and Army vehicles from Kickham Barracks were readied to ferry people whose homes were cut off - a much-praised operation that was continuing yesterday evening.
Ironically, the latest flooding comes only days after a preliminary OPW report on possible flood relief measures was put on display in Clonmel Town Hall. It had been commissioned after the very severe flooding of January, 1996. The report recommends engineering options for consideration, including the provision of flood defence walls and berms together with widening of some sections of the river. It also proposes an early flood warning system which could give Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir sufficient time to take protective measures.
But councillors have been informed that these measures, apart from costing several million pounds, could take more than four years to implement, involving an environmental impact statement and the statutory exhibition process.
Locals, however, believe walls and embankments are not the answer, as water, under immense pressure, will inevitably find other ways of invading the streets. They want more urgent measures, even if these do not provide a final solution.
The Mayor of Clonmel, Councillor Tommy Norris, who has called for urgent action by the Government, also asserts that there are temporary measures that can be taken immediately.
The OPW report analyses the frequency and severity of flooding incidents and talks about providing for 25-year extreme peaks. But one local man remarked: "The report spoke about a flood every year, but if we have two days of rain we have a flood in Clonmel."
Others say the problem is worsening and now even one day of continuous rain can result in flooding as water funnels down from the surrounding mountains. Some claim the narrowing of the river by new road and apartment building near Old Bridge has exacerbated the problem.
Others blame Coillte for removing hundreds of acres of trees which had previously absorbed many tons of water; still more point to the town's new sewerage scheme or to reclamation of perennially flooded land downstream and upstream which may have acted as a natural safety valve.
What most immediately concerns the citizens and councillors is that this is only the start of what could be a very hard winter, and Clonmel may well be fated to suffer repeated inundations in the coming months, even before the complexities of the problem and its possible solutions can be fully debated.