Watch: Army called in to assist with flood response in county, with Midleton worst affected 

Soldiers and personnel from the civil defence were drafted in to help authorities deal with 'worst-case scenario' floods in Midleton. 

More than 100 properties in the east Cork town flooded and a rest centre was established at Midleton Community Centre to facilitate evacuees. 

The floods followed heavy and persistent rain that fell during an orange rainfall warning in Cork with the Mayor of the County of Cork Cllr Frank O’Flynn saying a month’s worth of rain fell in just 24 hours.

Midleton was by far one of the worst affected areas with Cork County Council establishing a Coordination Centre in Midleton Fire Station as authorities tried to respond to the aftermath of the floods. 

Fianna Fáil councillor Ann Marie Ahern described the situation in the east Cork town as  “a worst-case scenario”.

“I’ve never, and I’m living in Midleton 41 years, in my life seen anything like this. This far outweighs the flooding of 2016,” she said.

“Cork County Council, the fire brigade, the gardaí have all been tremendously supportive to the town of Midleton and the environs in trying to get to locations and get flooding released but this is the worst I could say we have ever experienced in East Cork. Ever."

Cllr Ahern said that the Owenacurra River had completely burst its banks, impacting drainage and sewerage "overflowing into roads and onto the streets and homes.” 

She said that the extent of the damage would probably not be known until Thursday.

Cllr Ahern was critical of what she described as a "lack of engagement" yesterday from the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan following the severe flooding in the area.

“We are in a severe crisis stage and we have yet to see the Minister give a statement or make an attempt to come down to East Cork.” 

HSE facilities impacted 

Cork Kerry Community Healthcare confirmed to The Echo this evening that two HSE residential buildings in the town were impacted by the floods. 

A number of residents at the Owenacurra Centre in Midleton had to be moved off-site, while a number of residents at Midleton Community Hospital had to be relocated to another part of the complex following the flooding in the town. 

"Six residents were safely moved from the Owenacurra Centre and are being supported by staff off-site, while a number of residents of Midleton Community Hospital have been safely relocated within the complex. Water entered a part of Midleton Community Hospital (what’s referred to as the front hospital) but did not reach the rest of the campus, which allowed us to safely move the affected residents to another part of the facility," a spokesperson said. 

The spokesperson said that the wider campus was also affected. 

"A small number of attendees at the Day Service in the McAuley Centre were delayed in leaving the centre, and the Public Health Nurses health centre and the dental clinics on the same campus will remain closed tomorrow. This means that all clinics and on-site appointments scheduled for public health nursing and dental services in Midleton tomorrow are cancelled. We expect that services will run as normal as Friday," the spokesperson said. 

"We wish to thank our staff for their swift actions in assisting vulnerable residents at both Midleton Community Hospital, the Owenacurra Centre and the McAuley Centre. We also wish to thank an Garda Síochana, Cork County Council, the voluntary emergency services and colleagues from across the HSE for their assistance.

"Our current focus is on the safety and wellbeing of the residents affected. We continue to monitor the situation carefully," they added. 

Midleton was not the only area affected yesterday with significant flooding also reported in areas including Cork city, Glanmire, Rathcormac, Youghal, Whitegate, Glandore, Ringaskiddy Carrigaline, Raffeen, Halfway and Casteltownbere.

Schools such as St Francis College in Rochestown were closed due to weather and road conditions and many schools had to contact parents to collect their children due to flooding.

Councillor Audrey Buckley thanked Council ground staff and the emergency services for the ongoing “fantastic work” they had done and continued to do in Carrigaline and across the city and county.

“With the unprecedented rain, first of all thank you to the Council ground staff and emergency services for the ongoing fantastic work they have done and are currently doing,” she said.

“Cork County Council are engaging with us and ground staff. I would ask people to stay safe and be vigilant of the road surface, especially when the water recedes and at high tide.” In Kinsale, some streets and the Market Square also experienced some flooding, but Fine Gael councillor Marie O’Sullivan said that thankfully there was no extensive damage done.

“There was a small bit of flooding around the centre of Kinsale by the Temperance Hall but nothing major.

The roads, like every road, have excess water on it because you can’t do anything against it. The Council have been out clearing drains with diggers trying to do what they can and our divisional manager Patricia Liddy has asked us to collate information so that they can work over the next two days fixing what needs to be fixed, the urgent stuff.

“Ballinspittle village has also had flooding and the road between Cork Airport and Kinsale was very bad. There was a lot of flooding on the road.”

Evidence of changing climate 

Cork County Council said it had responded to 106 incidents between 5pm on Tuesday and 9am on Wednesday alone.

The Mayor or the County of Cork, Frank O'Flynn said that the floods, were evidence "of our changing climate and the issues that it presents."

He said: “I am especially conscious of the advanced preparations that were undertaken by Cork County Council in mitigating the effects of this event and how, despite every effort, homes, businesses and road users have been impacted.

“Areas where flood defence schemes have been completed fared far better than others in the face of this deluge," he said. 

The County Mayor said that the council will continue to work across the county, both in a preventative capacity and also dealing with issues as they arise.

“The results of this weather event will be long felt as we move toward a clean-up phase," he said.