CORK Corporation said yesterday every effort would be made to ensure the 14 families made homeless by flooding in the north side of the city last Monday, would be able to return to their houses before Christmas.
Mr Brendan Keating, the assistant city manager, told The Irish Times the families were being housed on a temporary basis in bed-and-breakfast accommodation as well as a city hotel. One couple, with a young child, was staying in an apartment rented by the Southern Health Board, he added.
The flooding, of tidal wave proportions, occurred at 7 a.m. on Monday when a major trunk water main, serving a huge population on Cork's north side, sprang a leak. Corporation officials said the cause had not yet been established.
The intensity of the flood water was so severe that one householder who opened his back door to investigate a noise, found his house under six feet of water within minutes. Water cascaded through letterboxes and windows at the height of the flooding.
The deluge was so sudden that the residents, in the Shandon View/Shandon Court area of Cork, adjoining Murphys Brewery, were forced to leave in the clothes they were wearing at the time.
The brewery opened its hospitality room to give them shelter and in some cases shoes, as well as breakfast.
Mr Keating said estimates of the damage - put at £5 million - were "probably over-estimated" but that the exact extent of the damage would not be known for some time. He added that assessors were attempting to put a value on the losses. "The corporation has advised the families to seek independent assessment of the damage and to liaise with our own assessors. An official has been appointed to liaise with the residents, and he is in touch with them on a daily basis. We are doing everything in our power to ease the distress for these families," he said.
The insurance implications of the flooding - which may be substantial - were being discussed yesterday by corporation officials. Dehumidifiers were installed in the 14 homes and damaged carpets and furniture were being removed. Mr Keating said the corporation would do all it could to ensure that replacement furniture was provided for the families.
"A reasonable approach would be to get these houses restored to normal before Christmas, and that is our aim," Mr Keating added.