AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS HAVE shown the extensive scale of the flooding in Midleton, Co Cork following Storm Babet.
The photographs, taken by the Guileen Coast Guard with a drone at 2.40pm on Wednesday, show cars, roads and buildings in the town centre submerged in water.
Heavy rainfall from Storm Babet saw some 100 homes flooded, with the strength of the deluge smashing windows in shops and flooding the roads in some places to five feet deep.
The local hospital also had to be evacuated, while a rest centre was established in Midleton Community Centre for people who had to be evacuated from their homes.
Among those having to be evacuated to safety was a ten-day-old baby, Guileen Coast Guard said.
The coast guard was assisting at the scene, along with An Garda Síochána, Cork Fire Brigade, Ballycotton Coast Guard, the Civil Defence and a number of other organisations.
The community was reeling from the effects yesterday as residents and business owners surveyed the damage caused by the storm.
A number of business owners told The Journal that they were angry about the lack of flood defences in the area, with one man saying he felt that Midleton had not been seen as a priority as Clonmel and Fermoy have had successful flood prevention projects.
Families and business owners also confronted Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who visited the town yesterday to see the extent of the damage.
This morning, Cork County Council is asking the public to avoid Midleton town centre due to a “significant” risk of further flooding following more heavy rainfall overnight.
“Following further heavy rain overnight, the River Owenacurra river levels continue to rise, resulting in a high risk of further flooding in Midleton,” the council said in a statement.
“There is a particular risk at present at Woodland estate,” it said, where residents have been asked to be on “high alert”.
Emergency services are present in the area and are conducting door-to-door visits in the estate for residents’ safety.
Several roads that were closed to traffic yesterday due to floods have reopened or are due to reopen to traffic today.
The risk of flooding is expected to become more frequent and more intense as climate change destabilises Ireland’s weather systems.
The Climate Action Plan 2023 outlined that the “most immediate risks to Ireland from climate change are predominantly those associated with changes in extremes, such as floods, droughts, and storms”.
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