We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
A FRESH RAINFALL warning covering Cork, Kerry and Waterford has been issued tonight by Met Éireann.
The alert is at the lowest end of the weather service’s three-tiered warning system – however, it’s significant as many areas are already dealing with heavy flooding.
Bandon was particularly badly hit in the aftermath of the recent Storm Desmond, with up to 50 homes and businesses flooded.
Here’s the detail of tonight’s warning:
Rainfall totals of between 25 and 30mm overnight and during Tuesday.
The alert was issued at 8pm and lasts until 8pm tomorrow.
And while there may not be any weather warnings in place for the rest of the country, there’ll still be plenty of rain about.
There’ll be some dry spells in the east and north tomorrow. However:
…a spell of heavy rain will push into Munster and south Leinster during the morning and will spread north eastwards during the early afternoon, followed by showery weather and yet another spell of heavy rain is expected to push into the southwest by evening.
As yet, there’s no end in sight to the rainy weather.
Here’s the general outlook:
Breezy and mild for the rest of the week. Some dry periods of weather, but further spells of rain will move in off the Atlantic, from time to time.
And looking towards the weekend:
Continuing mild, windy and unsettled, with spells of rain crossing the country, from the Atlantic, from time to time. Some of the rain will be heavy, especially in Atlantic coastal counties.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Jaysus wud it ever let up…
I hope people aren’t making unnecessary journeys, taking risks on treacherous roads or god forbid, swimming in the sea.
Of you can go this long without making any unnecessary journeys, your life isn’t going very well.
Don’t worry about it. Shinner on Claire Byrne now planning to levy everyone to pay for people’s flood insurance.
Gentle Jesus, make it stop.
That levy will happen Alan, but meanwhile the councillors and planners who approved housing to be built on flood plains will walk away scot free. Not that that bad planning is the only problem but it’s one of them.
The proper basis of insurance is dispersed risk. Selective cover runs against the risk distribution theory, which is the basis of insurance. At the same time, the solution is not insurance but proper management and prevention. Insurance is only an after the event partial compensation.
Unfortunately, owing to the gross neglect and issponsibility of the current government and of the previous government, this was a massive crisis waiting to happen. It was not a matter of it but when.
Minister Kelly is in diversion mode but what he needs to do with his civil servants and Cabinet approval is a proper scheme of drainage, dredging and containment of the Sgannon and other slow rivers. There needs to be a central statutory authority with extensive powers and emergency procurement powers so as to address this major problem.
In fairness, although I dislike and have grave suspicions of Sinn Fein, attacking Sinn Fein will not fix the flooding problem. Sinn Fein has not been in power and does not bear responsibility for this problem.
What a lame duck of a Government. Political distraction and diversion will not solve this problem.
As a speaker on RTE said tonight, political football won’t solve this problem.
And at the risk of a bad pun, Minister Kelly is clearly out of his depth on this issue, as indeed as he has been on so many other issues.
The Shannon flooded in 2009 and in many previous years, frequently since 1965.
Labour Councillors, Fianna Fail,Councillors and Fine Gael Councillors were the primary parties who supported building on flood plains and in not complying with sensible spatial strategies.
The Labour Party solution is prayer. “gentle Jesus make it stop”. It’s unlikely that prayer will work.
In fairness Fiona, and leaving bad planning aside for a minute, given that we are now having storm and flooding events every ten years instead of every hundred years, the Shannon issue is hard to manage because if you divert floods upstream you only move the problem down stream and with the best will in the world it will take many years to sort out.
That is why a massive, unitary, and centrally planned process is required to address the Shannon flooding problem which has worsened since the cessation of dredging of the Shannon. Work upwards initially from Ardnacrusha, getting up to Lough Derg and open up a slow moving river to a faster flowing river. There needs to be a Central Rivers Authority. Dispersing control and responsibllity through numerous local authorities will not work. Look at how major rivers are administered in other jurisdictions. We can learn from the superior expertise of other countries.
We now need to start planning. The next floods may be more severely damaging.
Fiona, the Shannon drops 30m in the 20km between Killaloe and Limerick, out of a total of about 100m over it’s entire length. Most of this drop is between Parteen Weir and Ardnacrusha. Its normal, non-flooding flow rate at Limerick (208 m3/sec) is already twice that of the next most powerful river in the country. It is also almost twice the flow of the Severn, which has the greatest flow rate in England and Wales.
What you suggest wouldn’t be turning a slow moving river into a fast river, it would increase the flow rate of an already fast river, plus it would raise the water level at Limerick and all points upriver to Ardnacrusha, all of which is tidal, and already floods in places when the Spring Tides are high enough.
The current flow rate at Parteen Weir is more than twice the normal flow rate at Limerick. Added to this, three (also flooded) tributary rivers join the Shannon in the vicinity of University of Limerick, adding significantly to the flow. Therefore, any solution would have to be capable of creating a by-pass channel from above Ardnacrusha to somewhere in the estuary downstream of Limerick, which would have a flow capacity similar to, if not exceeding, the normal flow of the Shannon.
Upstream of Parteen Weir as far as Portumna, there is nothing to dredge – it’s all reservoir and lake.
Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer to this particular issue.
Cork and Kerry again. Nightmare flooding 2 weeks before Xmas.
at least it is going to be warm rain.
Cold comfort to those whose houses and businesses are being destroyed.
Let’s get real….it’s a bit of rain
Look at the Philippines …..700,000 displaced by there weather!!!! No that’s bad weather!!!
Webbed feet weather!
These extreme rain events are predicted to increase in severity and in frequency.
The flooding was predicted 40-50 years ago before we cut away bogs, drained poor agri-land and built houses in flood plains. Couple that with reluctance to dredge rivers and you have a perfect “storm” for flooding issues which are happening.
While these awful events disturb families and businesses, destroy homes and businesses, the solution of FG and Labour is to scapegoat Sinn Fein, depicting it as the evil bogeyman. Blaming other political parties will niot solve the problem.
71% of people consider the response inadequate according the RTE survey.
What’s the video about???
How a world shortage of question marks is driving up their price.
The insurance industry catastrophe risk assessors who advise the insurance underwriters accept that anthropogenic global warming will produce much more extreme weather events.
Heard you the first two times.
and they laughed at me when i told them to put in 14 inch pipes instead of 8 inch, well they are not laughing now.
Not to worry if it was Dublin and foreign aid all guns would be blazing to sort it out fcuk the rest of the country
Shut up Mick
Can’t handle the truth can ya
And to even think about the government want us to pay for it .Water. like sand in the desert, dust on the moon, sunshine in Spain, it must be the must cynical taxes ever,
O my tan lol.
have your say