Why was the Storm Babet flooding so bad?

After the deluge, the questions.

As towns across counties Cork and Waterford began counting the cost of flood damage, people were questioning whether more could have been done to mitigate the impact of the rainfall, and whether it will require existing plans to be revamped as the impact of climate change hits closer to home.

In Midleton, in particular, the extent of the damage wrought by the floods was stark, with more than 100 properties understood to have been damaged as a month’s worth of rainfall fell in under 24 hours. Yet even allowing for the extraordinary level of precipitation, many people were asking what can be done to ensure that the town can avoid a similar scenario in future.

The Owenacurra river in Midleton has always been prone to flooding, with Storm Frank causing extensive damage in late December 2015. That left some properties on streets such as Mill Road under two metres of water and up to 50 businesses at the eastern end of Main Street also flooded.

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An open day held by Cork County Council last year to discuss the proposed Midleton flood-relief scheme heard that the town had been hit by almost a dozen significant flooding events since 1993, caused by flooding from rainfall, from rivers, tidal flooding or flooding from underground water.

According to Cllr Susan McCarthy, Midleton has a number of features which have made it more susceptible to flooding.

“It is built on what they now think is an ancient river bed. The Owenacurra often breaks its banks but the Roxborough river is smaller and generally is the first to flood, it’s at the bottom end of town. But when the Owenacurra breaks its banks, we are in big, big trouble.”

That is not to say that this week’s events were unavoidable. Cllr McCarthy said she is furious with what has unfolded, recalling how back in 2015 she and others were told of a five-year flood-relief plan which is still not in place.

Cllr McCarthy is already bracing herself for encounters with constituents angry about the lack of progress.

“I have to face people whose homes and businesses are ruined,” she said. “It is weeks and months of rebuilding business and homes.

“There was an undertaking to have this done in a certain time frame and it has not been done in that time frame. There is going to be a lot of questions.”

Delays are not uncommon in such projects. The Glashaboy flood-relief scheme for Glanmire had been planned since 2012 but work finally got under way this summer and is expected to take 32 months to complete. Just last year came the completion of a long-awaited major flood-relief scheme in Douglas.

Another area to experience flooding on Wednesday was Blackpool on the northside of Cork city. Jer Buckley, who runs a local Centra store and is a member of the National Flood Forum, said the scheme proposed for the area has been delayed since 2015.

“If the OPW hadn’t done the schemes in Fermoy and Mallow, where would those towns be now?” he asked. “They’d be floating down the Blackwater now.”

The scheme for Blackpool became the subject of objections over concerns about the natural environment on and around the river Bride, and specifically the welfare of native otters.

But for Buckley, what occurred this week means it is now imperative that what he calls a final public consultation is held, and that in the meantime, people in the area follow the example of Skibbereen, working to mitigate the impacts of flooding as and when it happens.

“People are sick of it,” Buckley says of the slow pace of developments. “They’re worn out.”

In west Cork, the people of Clonakilty were left looking on at the reports from Midleton and being grateful they had not experienced something similar. By some estimates Clonakilty received more than 70mm of rain in a 24-hour period, yet while some roads around the town were impassable at times, the streets themselves were not flooded, bar one area at Faxbridge.

According to Mick Hanly of Clonakilty’s Chamber of Commerce, the contrast with the devastation in Midleton was clear.

“The success of it was there to be seen yesterday,” he said of Clonakilty’s flood-relief scheme, completed in 2021 at a cost of €33.8 million. “Go back over the years and there have been a few similar incidents [as this week’s storm] but not to the same extent as in the last two days in Midleton or Glanmire.”

The OPW said Cork City Council is leading the schemes in Glanmire and in Blackpool, and that Cork County Council is leading on a flood relief scheme for Midleton.

“An option for a flood-relief scheme for Midleton to protect some 580 properties has emerged following extensive analysis and engagement,” an OPW spokesperson said.* “The scheme will provide protection against flooding from the Dungourney and Owenacurra rivers.

“The environmental impact assessment report is being prepared for this preferred option. The current programme for this scheme is that planning consent will be applied for in the first half of 2024. Total project budget for this scheme is estimated to be €50 million.”

In Midleton, the wait goes on.

* This article was amended on Friday, October 20th to correct an error from the OPW on the number of properties to be covered by the proposed Midleton flood-relief scheme