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.
Updated at 12.10pm
MANY PARTS OF Donegal and Northern Ireland have been hit by flash flooding following heavy rain across the north of the country.
AA Roadwatch is reporting that several roads in Donegal are closed due to bridges collapsing and mud slides.
These are:
The Carraroe road in Sligo town is also closed due to flooding while in Cavan the Bawnboy to Ballinamore road is closed near Boley.
“If you have to drive through standing water, do so slowly and in the centre of the road as it tends to be the highest point,” the traffic information service advises.
In Derry the A5 is closed between Strabane and Derry while the Ballynamee Bridge in Claudy also collapsed due to the flooding overnight.
All flights in and out of City of Derry Airport have been cancelled as a major clean-up operation is underway following extensive flooding.
Donegal TD and government chief whip Joe McHugh said the flooding in Donegal will be treated as a “priority case”.
Minister McHugh said: “My first thoughts this morning are with the families affected by this severe weather event.
I also want to thank the emergency services, Donegal County Council and the incredible volunteers who worked through the night to save property and to save lives.
The minister of state for the Office of Public Works and flood relief, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran, will travel to Donegal today to see the damage caused by the flooding.
Over 600 homes have been left without power in north Donegal. Buncrana is worst affected with 409 customers losing their electricity supply.
The severe weather conditions have also left more than 600 homes in Northern Ireland without power following damage to the network.
Numerous videos were published on social media showing extensive flooding in several areas across the north-west of the island.
Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) responded to 60 flood reports between 7pm and 11pm last night. Numerous people were also rescued from vehicles caught in the flooding.
Met Eireann says heavy showers will also be frequent today.
A Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service spokesman said: “Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service are continuing to deal with a large number of flood related incidents across the province as a result of localised heavy rainfall.
“A considerable number of these incidents have occurred in the west of the province.
NIFRS has carried out a number of rescues of persons trapped in vehicles in flood water and we would advise all road users to exercise extreme caution overnight.
Numerous pitches and other recreational facilities have been badly hit by the severe flooding. Carrickmore GAA club in Co Tyrone suffered extensive damage to its grounds and facilities during the “worst floods in recent memory”.
The club posted a message on Facebook thanking volunteers for their efforts to protect the grounds from the flood waters:
A sincere thank you to all the volunteers who once again showed true carmen spirit and commitment to our club this evening when they reacted very quickly to the severe flooding, the highest water levels ever witnessed around the club grounds.
The football grounds of Institute FC in Derry were also flooded.
Bernard McGuinness, who is a Fine Gael councillor for Inishowen, said: “I have never seen anything like it in all my life. The rain was relentless and torrential.
Roads which never flood did this time. It was a weather event not seen here in living memory with 70mm of rain in just a few hours.
“Damage in many areas is severe. I want to pay tribute to local people, emergency services and council staff who worked through the night.”
Fianna Fail spokesperson on transport Robert Troy has called on the minister for transport, Shane Ross, to make emergency funding available to repair the damage to roads and bridges.
It’s clear that emergency funding will be needed to help repair the damage to roads and bridges in particular.
“Minister Ross needs to put in place a contingency fund to help repair the damage and ensure that works are carried out without delay,” Troy said.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Apparently, when Cockhill gets ideas, it can flood Muff around Grainne’s Gap and sure look at the wet chaos it’s caused.
@Cormac Fox: sure¿
@Cormac Fox: also took
Out Fanny Wyles bridge and flooded Madams bank. All in the same area as well!!!
If this happen in Dublin we have RTE/TV3 news out tripping one another talking to ministers calling for a state of a emergency, when it happens to another part of the country do it yourself.
@Paul Maguire: Donegal has well earned it’s nickname ‘The Forgotten County’.
@Paul Maguire: When did they ever happen in JUST Dublin?
One of the oldest diving clubs in Ireland is in muff ( I kid you not)
Wow, Muff is REALLY wet!
@John Strahan: There’s nothing like sliding around in Muff…..!!
@John Strahan: plenty of muff diving today….
I’d say if any of ye ever visited Muff, you wouldn’t know what to do.
@Matt Connolly: Why¿
@John Strahan: not as wet as Grainnes Gap!
@Diar O Doc: No, Grainnes Gap is closed for action today
@John Strahan: so is grainnes gap
@Alan Lawlor: muff muff muff
@Fank Pulman cause muffs not very big
The IWEA & developer cronies will have a field day again in promoting Global Warming & the need for more pylons & turbines. Nothing about the fact that the drainage systems have improved so much in the country in the last 20 years . E.g. Quick escape of rainwater from roofs & roadways straight into the streams & rivers which can contribute to local flooding .
@Windy Atlantic Way: When the river floods so high that it’s over the top of the bridges the drains do not matter since they are 3 feet under the flow… the water has nowhere else to go.
I never seen rain and lightening like it. It was intense like a tropical storm or something… It was bad all day but from 8 – 10 it was crazy… the waters were high but then there was another flash flood down.. water level .ie you can see the wave of water on the tullyarven station on the river Crana. Biggest flood since 1947 and worse since it took two bridges that survived that.
@Ciarán FitzGerald: I have to ag
@Ciarán FitzGerald: I have to agree with you , but as you mentioned it also happened back in 1947 . The big problem here is that all these people that have suffered flood damage will do so again and again while the IWEA , developer & government blame Global warming & line the pockets of the corrupt wind industry in return , instead of helping the real & honest rural people of the country who have suffered from flooding. Wind farms & pylons will not sort these problems & possible if anything will add to the problem .
These once in a 100 years events are now common events and can be directly linked to fossil fuels and Big Oil who pay billions to tell people that climate change is a mirage/hoax etc. Big Oil will not be paying for the clean up – despite the fact that is they who are driving climate change to the abyss.
It may have been tough in Muff but the 12 Inch men who built the Foot Inn at Burnfoot should have made the bridge there just a tad tougher.
All of this is just a normal day in Brazil …
@Edgar Lima good to know thanks Edgar whilst there are people flooded out of their homes up here. But yeah thanks for the heads up
And yet county councils are still more interested in pissing about illegally cutting hedges out of season and making excuses for it, than in maintaining drains and ditches. But then drains can’t be cleared by one fella in a tractor with a flail mower and a smart phone to concentrate on.
They should have taken in the roads…
have your say