Clean-Up Operation Underway In Cork & Waterford Following Flooding "Carnage"

A clean up operation is underway in the towns of villages of west Waterford and east Cork that were affected by flooding during Storm Babet.

While a Status Orange warning was put in place, the sheer speed at which these floods swept through the counties, took many by surprise. Following this, Cork City Council have stated that more than 100 properties were affected, after a month's rainfall fell in less than 24 hours. 

While Blackpool and the Commons Road areas were heavily affected in the Rebel County, Cork City Centre which is usually a victim of such flooding, managed to escape.

According to Head of Forecasting at Met Éireann Eoin Sherlock said "an awful lot of rain" fell in such a short space of time, along with heavily saturated ground, along with high tides, which made conditions even more treacherous. 

When asked if a Status Red Warning should have been issued, Mr Sherlock stated that Met Éireann base their decisions on the best guidance of two models, which are an Irish model and a European model, with international collaborations.

He also added that these warnings were modified, and that they were, "one or two stations where it creeped into red territory, other parts of Cork where it was orange level in terms of amount of rainfall and the parts of Cork were below or even just creeping into yellow". 

Other towns affected in the county also include, the heavily populated Glanmire/Riverstown suburb, and Midleton, Whitegate, Cloyne, Castlemartyr and Killeagh. 

A decision is to be made later this morning if 30 patients are to be evacuated from the community hospital of Midleton. 

Elsewhere, Chief Officer for the Cork Kerry Community Healthcare Area Tess O'Donovan has revealed that the storm has caused major damage in the area.

It was also confirmed that a Status Yellow Warning would come into effect in County Kerry, remaining in place until 6pm tomorrow, while the national forecaster has warned that this could lead to localised flooding, treacherous road conditions, and reduced visibility.

Storm Babet is also moving into Northern Ireland, with counties Down, Fermanagh, Armagh, Derry and Tyrone receiving Status Yellow warnings, remaining in place until 10am.