Storm Babet: Defence Forces deployed in Cork due to heavy flooding
Cillian Sherlock, PA
Updated: 17:10pm
The Defence Forces have been deployed to East Cork due to the severity of the flooding in the region.
The town of Midleton is under-water and access to Glanmire is severely limited this evening.
Cork City Council says it did not expect the severe levels of flooding being experienced across Cork in the wake of Storm Babet.
A months worth of rain fell in just 24 hours.
Fire crews, the civil defence and council crews are in Blackpool helping people out of their flooded houses and the village has been closed to traffic.
Glanmire is underwater by Sarsfield GAA Club, with access to the village currently closed.
🚨Inchagaggin Flooding
Please note that Inchigaggin Lane is now closed as it is impassable.#StormBabet@CorkSafetyAlert pic.twitter.com/4UEcXNAWhd— Cork City Council (@corkcitycouncil) October 18, 2023
Elsewhere, severe flooding has been reported in East Cork in towns such as Midleton and Youghal.
Cork City Council Engineer David Joyce says the severity of flooding was not expected:
Heavy rain and strong winds are being felt around the country as Storm Babet blows in.
Met Éireann has issued a range of warnings countrywide, with the UK Met Office issuing similar alerts for the North.
Cork City Council warned motorists to avoid parts of the city impacted by flooding, with road closures affecting Centre Park Road, Rutland Street, and Cotter Street.
One eastbound lane on Lavitts Quay has also been closed to traffic, in addition to the westbound lane on North Mall.
⚠️ Westbound traffic lane closed on North Mall due to surface flooding.
Gel bags also being used to protect property ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/WDapv56wUy— Cork City Council (@corkcitycouncil) October 18, 2023
The council added that a number of roads in Glanmire are impassable due to flooding, and said the public should take extra care on the N71 Bandon road due to large volumes of surface water, and at Popes Quay in the city.
An orange warning for rain which had been in place for Cork and Kerry ended at 1pm. Similar warnings remain active for Waterford, last until 4pm, as well as Wicklow and Wexford, lasting until 8pm.
Heavy rain is expected on Tuesday & Wednesday in places, especially across southern parts, ahead of #StormBabet ⚠️☔️
For more details about this unsettled weather, check out our meteorologist commentary 👇https://t.co/ktXtWjbfIg
Weather Warnings 👇https://t.co/Xg3aMJlyuS pic.twitter.com/qfKqOao1HQ— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) October 16, 2023
Rain warnings for every county in the Republic were in place overnight, having come into effect at various stages on Tuesday.
A yellow warning currently in place for Clare, Limerick, Tipperary and Connacht will end at 6pm on Wednesday, while a similar warning for Leinster, Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan and Waterford will remain in place until 8pm.
Storm Babet will also bring some heavy rain to Northern Ireland through Wednesday afternoon and into Thursday morning.
The UK Met Office said people in the North can expect spray and flooding which may lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures for the duration of the yellow warning for rain, which comes into effect at 2pm and expires at 10am on Thursday.
The forecaster said “there is a small chance” that homes and businesses could be flooded, causing damage to some buildings.
It also warned of a small chance of fast-flowing or deep floodwater, and communities being cut off by flooded roads, and a slight chance of power cuts and loss of other services to some homes and businesses.
Storm Babet is the second named storm of the season, and is expected to last until Saturday.
