LAST UPDATE | 17 Oct 2022

CORK CITY COUNCIL has said that a clean-up operation is now “in full swing” after torrential rainfall caused widespread flooding and traffic disruption in the city yesterday. 

Heavy rain caused localised flooding in parts of Cork City, including the South City Link Road, N40 South Ring Road, Monaghan/Centre Park Roads and Blackpool.

At around 6.30pm yesterday evening, Cork City Council advised that the N27 South City Link Road in Cork closed due to adverse weather conditions. The road has since reopened.

No flooding is reported across the city this morning with all waters having receded during the night. All diversions put in place yesterday have also been lifted.

Gardaí issued an advisory to the public to avoid making unnecessary road journeys due to the weather conditions.

Members of Cork City Fire Brigade and Cork City Council worked throughout the evening to clear water from the city and ensure flooding was kept to a minimum.

Crews are deployed around the city pumping water where possible.

Please use caution around flood water and avoid affected areas if possible ⚠️ https://t.co/bjKWL9KcMi

— Cork City Fire Brigade (@CorkCityFire) October 16, 2022

A status yellow rain warning put in place for Munster, Connacht, and Donegal yesterday was lifted at 10pm last night. 

A status yellow wind warning remains in effect in Cork until 12 noon.

This warning is also in place in Clare, Kerry, Limerick, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo.

A spokesperson for Cork City Council told The Journal: “The clean-up operation is now in full swing and will continue throughout the day.”

Another spokesperson for Cork City Council told The Journal that the issue yesterday was “the intensity of the rain as well as the volume of it”.

“If the same amount of rain fell in lighter showers constantly over 4 hours there would have been no flooding,” the spokesperson said.

“The issue was that the rain fell in 30 minutes and not over 4 hours and so the systems locally were overwhelmed.”

The spokesperson said that Cork City and suburbs experienced “very heavy and intense localised rain in bursts” from around lunchtime until evening. 

They said the volume of rain caused localised flooding occurred as the drainage network was above capacity.

“As soon as the rain reduced to normal volume the flood waters very quickly receded (in less than 15 minutes in most cases).

“There was however a number of locations which experienced longer flooding incidents including the South City Link Road, N40 South Ring Road, Monaghan/Centre Park Roads and Blackpool.”

The spokesperson said that no significant damage to properties has been reported to date, but that some damage may emerge during the day.

“In all likelihood there will be some minor property damage but it will not be widespread,” the spokesperson added.

Some local businesses have already reported some damage as a result of the weather conditions.

Two flood gates and the water came up through the drains, through every crevice it could. Proves that #WallsDontWork waiting for it to subside before the cleanup 😭#ClimateChange is so real! #TidalBarrier is the way to go. Listen to the experts!! pic.twitter.com/lJvd8uszMi

— Cork Flower Studio (@corkfs) October 16, 2022

The council has said that Glanmire Library will be closed for the next number of days following flood damage.

A garda spokesperson told The Journal that they have not received any notice of traffic control relating to flooding this morning in Cork.

There have been reports of some spot flooding on Sunday’s Well Road, quayside lane. Motorists are advised to take care on approach.

Met Éireann said this morning will be windy in Munster with fresh to strong and gusty southwest to west winds, slowly easing through the rest of the morning.

However, the national forecaster has warned that Wednesday will be wet and cloudy with widespread outbreaks of rain, heaviest and most persistent in the south and southwest with localised flooding possible. 

Further rain is expected mainly over the southern half of the country on Thursday, though it is not expected to be as heavy.

Speaking on the News at One on RTÉ Radio One, Cork City Council’s Director of Services and Operations David Joyce explained that there was “very, very intense rainfall”. 

“Not only was there 55mm over five or six hours, what happened was there were extremely intense bursts of thunderstorm-type rain in localities across the city,” Joyce said. 

“What it meant was in those localities, significant flooding on roads and footpaths took place, but as soon as the intense rainfall stopped, the roads cleared within ten or fifteen minutes.

“So it was an issue of the capacity of the drainage network to take the volume of water that was falling out of the sky.” 

Some areas that experienced longer flooding incidents were the South City Link Road, N40 South Ring Road, Monahan/Centre Park Roads and Blackpool.

Additional reporting from Jane Moore