In Cork, Fire Brigade services responded to almost 300 emergency calls yesterday as rising flood waters trapped people in their homes and cars and made many roads in the county impassable.
At several locations, including Douglas and Leemount on the city's outskirts, holes had to be blasted in walls to relieve water pressure as the River Lee burst its banks, and at Churchfield, on the north side, a digger had to be brought in to dig a trench in an effort to divert the cascade of water from a terrace of houses.
The main Cork/Bandon road was flooded and impassable at the Viaduct for most of the day and traffic heading to west Cork had to be diverted via Ballinhassig. Eastwards, the Cork/Dublin road was under several feet of water at Watergrasshill until late afternoon when motorists were advised to use it only with caution. Diversions via Youghal and Dungarvan were operating, but two cars that tried to negotiate the flood were swept off the road. No one was injured. Flooding also closed the Cork/Limerick road outside Mallow for a time yesterday.
Cork Fire Brigade duty officer, Mr John Lynch, said the switchboard at the Anglesea Street headquarters was inundated with calls, particularly from motorists stranded in floods on secondary roads. At Douglas village, the Douglas River burst its banks, flooding the main road and a shopping-centre car-park. The Fire Brigade had to drill holes in retaining walls to allow the rising water to run off. The retaining wall at Leemount, west of the city, had to be breached to save houses there. At Churchfield Terrace, 10 householders had to quit their homes as water poured into the terrace from higher ground.
Fire brigade units tried to pump water away but when they failed to make headway, a digger was called in to create a trench. The main yard at Murphy's brewery was flooded.
A mud slide at Sutton's Bridge, on the Cork/Mallow road, caused traffic disruption for several hours before it was cleared by Cork County Council workers, and at Donnybrook Hill, towards the south of the city, a wall collapsed on an unoccupied car.
Flooding was also reported at Bishopstown, Togher, the North Ring Road and Model Farm Road.
Gardai warned motorists not to make journeys unless absolutely necessary.
All Cork County Board GAA fixtures were cancelled as were other sporting fixtures.