Weekend weather could end up costing millions

FLASH FLOODING:THE COST of Saturday's flash flooding in Dublin and Kildare is likely to run into millions of euro.

The total cost to businesses and residents is still being assessed but at least 600 premises suffered water damage in Dublin alone during the freakish conditions.

A total of 76mm (three inches of rain) fell on Saturday in east Leinster, but most of that came in torrential downpours from 4pm onwards, causing flash flooding.

Both Dublin City Council and Dublin Fire Brigade reported more than 600 calls between 4pm and midnight on Saturday as homes and businesses were flooded.

Between 5pm and 7pm, when the rain was at its heaviest, gardaí were receiving an average of four to five calls a minute.

A spokesman for the council said the conditions were unprecedented and unlike anything experienced before. "You could nearly get a compass and stick it on the map of the city and you would find a localised flood there," he said.

Among the badly affected areas were Swords, Collins Avenue and Drumcondra on the northside, Knocklyon and Firhouse on the southside, and Clonee in Co Dublin.

The floods knocked down a wall in the Fairways Estate in Finglas, causing houses to be flooded to a depth of more than one metre.

The rain caused the closure of a section of the M1 at the Shantalla flyover and it took six to seven hours to pump out the water yesterday.

The M50 was partially blocked between junctions two and three where parts of the road that are being upgraded became waterlogged. Both the M1 and M50 sections did not fully open until 6.30pm yesterday evening.

Several major arteries in the city were closed due to flooding. The Malahide Road was impassable, as was the N3/Navan Road, Blackhorse Avenue, the N4 around Lucan Village and the Chapelizod bypass.

The Phoenix Park was also closed off to traffic at the Castleknock gates end.

Fans leaving the Kerry-Galway match at Croke Park on Saturday evening had to exit via the Canal End because of flooding on Jones Road.

Insp Gerry Wall, of the Regional Traffic Division at Dublin Castle, said the volume of water was "frightening" and it was fortunate that nobody was killed.

"It was as bad as ever it gets. You just couldn't see what was going on in front of you. It was very dangerous.

"Luckily, we were able to get our message out very quickly on Saturday evening and the level of co-operation we got from the public, many of whom were stranded for hours in floods, was excellent. They showed great patience," he said.

"It is fortunate that it happened on a Saturday when many people are still on holiday and not on a week day when there are schools open," he added.

Insp Wall said gardaí and civil defence teams lifted manhole covers to relieve the flooding and he said there was a great level of co-operation between agencies.

Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr Eibhlin Byrne praised the work of the emergency services which she said had worked in "very difficult conditions" to deal with the flooding incidents.

The council implemented its crisis management plan immediately and its drainage unit, waste management services and road maintenance division were busy until the early hours of Sunday morning.

All of the agencies involved in the clean-up operation will be meeting later this week to assess the damage and ascertain what lessons can be learned from the freak weather.