Cork Floods: Rest centre set up in Midleton to accommodate people who require evacuation
Flooding in Midleton during Storm Babet. Picture: Cork County Council
Personnel from the army and the Civil Defence are on site in Midleton where authorities are dealing with significant floods.
Cork County Council said this evening that the town is currently impassable with more than 100 properties flooded.
A rest centre has been established in Midleton Community Centre to facilitate persons who require evacuation.
Cork County Council’s Severe Weather Assessment Team convened this afternoon to access the impact of the unprecedented flooding across the county resulting from significant rainfall, a month’s worth in the last 24 hours, saturated land and high river levels.
The Severe Weather Assessment Team has been meeting continually since Monday, and will convene again tonight at 9pm as the situation and its impact on communities continues to evolve.
Midleton town is currently impassable and the Council has established a Coordination Centre in Midleton Fire Station to coordinate arrangements.
A local authority spokesperson said this evening that the army and Civil Defence are currently on site in Midleton and are supporting evacuation measures.
Cork County Council is aware of the flooding of properties in Whitegate, Rathcormac,Glandore , Ringaskiddy Carrigaline, Raffeen, Halfway and Casteltownbere.
The road network across the county has been impacted with rolling road closures. The N71 is closed at Rosscarbery with diversions through the town. The N71 is also closed at Innishannon with reports of spot flooding at the Halfway roundabout. Traffic will be diverted via Crossbarry. The R610 in Carrigaline is virtually impassable.
Considering the volume of rainfall in the last 24 hours together with ongoing forecasted conditions, saturated land, high river and stream levels and coastal overtopping, Cork County Council continues to ask all road users to exercise extreme caution and only travel if necessary.
In a statement, it said: "Unnecessary journeys should be avoided as the full extent of the damage is impossible to assess at this time. Motorists who must travel are asked to exercise extreme caution as driving conditions will be hazardous, with surface flash flooding and localised flooding. Please avoid driving through flowing or standing water, exercise extreme caution during heavy rain and be especially conscious of vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians."
It said that council crews and contractors have been active both in advance of this event and throughout assisting road users, homes and businesses and are operating in very challenging conditions.
"Additional precautionary measures with particular focus on areas previously impacted by earlier flood events were made. Areas where flood defence schemes have been completed fared far better than others.
"Cork County Council will continue to inspection and undertake emergency repair works on the roads most severely impacted across the region, having also commenced the considerable clean-up programme that lies ahead. Again, motorists are asked to be aware of the impact on the road network with damage expected as a result of standing water.
"With high river levels, members of the public are advised to stay high, stay dry and away from the coast, rivers and lakes," it added.
Cork County Council will continue to monitor this situation.
Issues such as flooding and road damage should be reported to the local Council Office during working hours (9am to 5pm), details of which can be found by visiting www.corkcoco.ie.
Outside working hours (5pm to 9am), the Council can be contacted via its 'Emergency Out of Hours' number (021) 4800048.
In the event of disruption to power supply, please contact ESB Networks at 1800 372 999.
In the event of disruption to water supply, please contact Uisce Éireann at 1800 278 278.
Call 999 or 112 and request the Fire Service, Ambulance Service, Gardaí or Irish Coastguard as appropriate.
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