LAST UPDATE | 13 mins ago

MET ÉIREANN HAS issued a rainfall warning for counties Dublin, Wicklow, Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, and Wexford.

The status yellow warning comes into effect from midnight tonight and will remain in place for 24 hours. 

The weather service said that “with catchments already heavily saturated from recent rainfall, even modest additional showers could lead to rapid surface flooding and rising river levels”.

The warning comes as Housing Minister James Browne earlier acknowledged failings in informing people about the extent of Storm Chandra in advance of the storm after parts of the east and southeast of Ireland were rocked by heavy flooding.

‘Worst flooding in a generation’

In Enniscorthy in Co Wexford, homes were evacuated after the town was subjected to what locals said was its worst flooding in a generation.

It left homes and businesses inundated with water, cars stranded, power cut and the town centre closed off after the River Slaney burst its banks after heavy rain on Monday night and into Tuesday. 

Some residents of the town had to be rescued from their homes after rising water made it unsafe for them to attempt to leave themselves.

The flooding mainly affected Co Wexford, Co Wicklow, and south Dublin.

In south Dublin, residents of a housing development in Kiltiernan woke up to water running through their home after a stream burst its banks. 

Man trying to clear drain in south Dublin Lettie McCarthy Lettie McCarthy

Labour councillor Lettie McCarthy told RTÉ that the damage she saw yesterday in Kiltiernan and the surrounding areas was “harrowing” and “really upsetting”.

“Friends are putting them up for the immediate future but this could take months to put right, and it’s very hard to find a place to rent in our area,” McCarthy told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

She added: “We live on the foothills of the mountains and they have lots of streams and that’s something that is not always taken into account when planning applications are being assessed and I hope this is a wakeup call.”

Some of the homes flooded in Kiltiernan, such as those in Cookstown Lane, are new developments and McCarthy said “it is unforgivable” for this to happen to houses built in recent years.

“We have enough experts in Local Authorities to realise if it is close to a river or at the end of a mountain, that is as important as water supply.”

Fire Brigade helping to clear drains in south Dublin Lettie McCarthy Lettie McCarthy

McCarthy added that someone who buys a new house would reasonably expect for it not to flood at the “first heavy rain”.

She said the “entire area needs some breathing space” before “we start putting more concrete all over the place”.

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Met Éireann warning criticisms

Despite the damage caused by the flooding, Met Éireann did not issue a rain warning for Dublin. Warnings issued for other counties did not detail the potential disastrous impacts.

A Met Éireann forecaster told The Journal that this was because the decision to enact warnings is based solely on the level of rainfall, and does not account for how wet the ground already is before a storm arrives.

Speaking on South East Radio’s Morning Mix with Alan Corcoran, Wexford TD James Browne said, “I think more needs to be done on the communication side of it from Met Éireann, and I’m really frustrated that some state agencies seem to think that it’s, you know, their duty to somehow withhold information.

“I’m a great believer in information should be out there.”

Asked if Met Éireann should have released an earlier warning for Wexford to allow locals in Enniscorthy to be warned of the potential impacts and make efforts to safeguard their properties, Browne said, “Well, I don’t know whether there was a possibility of an earlier warning in this particular situation, and I’ll let Met Éireann defend themselves in that respect, if they can.

“But what I will say is, in general, I think Met Éireann do have to step up their communications.”

The Minister added that Met Éireann use mathematical formulas to determine the warnings they release to the public, while other countries both use formulas and make a “judgement call”.

“I think there needs to be a greater use of that judgment call [in Ireland] as well. I think in terms of being able to warn people what is coming down the line.”

He said he would “absolutely” call upon Met Éireann to step up its communications in light of the recent flooding devastation.