RESIDENTS IN SOUTH Dublin are experiencing heavy flooding and major travel disruption during Storm Chandra.

Labour councillor Pamela Kearns confirmed that South Dublin County Council has received 74 calls to its emergency line since the storm hit last night. 

The council’s Environmental Director held a meeting last night once the weather warnings were issued to put an action plan in place for the storm. Weather warnings were issued for some other eastern counties but not specifically for Dublin for rain as of last night.

The Journal spoke to residents near Dodder Road, one of the areas with significant flooding. All the residents we spoke to said this the worst flooding they have ever seen in the area. The area is in South Dublin County Council, near the border with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County council.

One couple said their back gardens have totally flooded.

“We’re hoping that the rain will stop because there’s been so much water in the river over the last week or two, so it was already high and this has exacerbated it,” one said.

The couple said they had to call the fire brigade early this morning when flooding began closing in on their driveway. 

The residents said they believe there are blocked drains in the area that the council could clear out: “If we know there’s a storm coming, serious areas that are normally affected should be high priority.”

River already at high levels

Residents highlighted that the Dodder has been consistently rising over the past week, as there has been lots of rain.

One local said she noticed “the river was level with the walkway” last week, and that it was “already very severe” and “very concerning”. She showed The Journal pictures from recent days of the Dodder at a very high level.

“It has caused complete chaos here,” she said.

The river has been flooding nearby roads today

There are also local concerns about how forecasted rain over the coming days could worsen the flooding.

One resident told The Journal that she is concerned the flooding could spread further: “When you see this morning, I was thinking how much worse it would be for it to come on up the road.”

Another resident said he is “very concerned”about further flooding, highlighting the risk to Nutgrove Avenue.

Storm Chandra has brought strong winds, flooding and travel disruption across the country today. 

Full details of Met Éireann warnings are available here, with the forecaster saying that the main impacts could be fallen trees and loose debris and wave overtopping.