Storm Ciarán: Authorities warn of more disruption after heavy flooding hits country’s east coast

Regions across the country were on Tuesday grappling with significant damage caused by flooding after a month of sustained rainfall, as the threat of more heavy showers in the coming days loomed.

In Northern Ireland, Newry experienced “unprecedented levels of flooding” after the city’s canal broke its banks overnight, with several streets in the city centre left under water on Tuesday. In Banbridge, Co Down, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) warned on Tuesday afternoon that the level of the River Bann had risen “dangerously high”.

Businesses in Carlingford, Co Louth have also reported significant damage to premises following flooding in the region.

A number of rain and wind warnings have been issued by Met Éireann and the Met Office for the coming days, with Storm Ciarán expected to make landfall later on Wednesday.

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Met Éireann has issued a 24-hour yellow rain warning for Co Kerry from noon on Tuesday while a similar warning is in place from 9pm in Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry until 9am on Wednesday.

A yellow wind warning is in place Clare, Kerry and Galway from 5am until 11am on Wednesday. A yellow rain warning has also been issued for Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, Cork and Waterford from 7pm on Wednesday until 7am on Thursday.

Asked on RTÉ radio’s Drivetime whether people affected by flooding in the northeast will be entitled to the same level of compensation allocated to those hit by flooding in Co Cork earlier this month, Minister for State at the Office of Public Works (OPW) Patrick O’Donovan said that “businesses that are flooded in the northeast are no different to businesses that are flooded in the south.”

Also speaking on RTÉ radio’s Drivetime, Sinn Féin TD Ruairí Ó Murchú said that businesses in Carlingford were “impacted desperately” by flooding. “We need residential supports, and we need business supports.”

A number of roads are closed in counties Down, Armagh and Antrim due to flooding caused by heavy overnight rain falling on already saturated ground.

The Road Safety Authority is asking the public to “exercise caution while using the roads” during the bad weather. It is advising road users to slow down, use another route when one is flooded and to not attempt to drive through flood waters.

In an update on Tuesday afternoon, the Department of Infrastructure said a multi-agency response was continuing in Newry in an effort to mitigate the effects of flooding in the city centre.

The PSNI is continuing to warn the public to avoid the centre of Newry due to “excessive flooding due to the canal bursting its banks overnight and heavy rainfall,” District Commander Superintendent Norman Haslett said.

“I would also urge people to keep away from the canal and the river at this time due to the hazardous conditions caused by high water levels and the fast flowing current,” he said.

Paul McCartan, who owns clothing shop McCartan Bros on Sugar Island, said his shop was an “absolute mess” and stock had been left “saturated” by three feet of water.

“We’re just going to have to see where we go from here, it’s a bit of a nightmare coming into Christmas,” he said. “I don’t know when I’ll be able to reopen again.”

Newry resident Dessie Heatley described the flooding in Newry as “a repeat of what happened here around 35 years ago, we were up and down here in boats.”

The main N1 Belfast to Dublin road, which was closed just south of the Border, has been reopened for southbound traffic at Junction 20 (Carrickdale Hotel) and was passable only with “extreme care”, TrafficWatchNI said on Tuesday.

The northbound carriageway remains closed due to flooding.

In Louth, a bridge, which is near Riverstown, was damaged due to heavy rainfall with local community groups warning on social media of severe flooding in the area with many roads impassable.

Co Louth publican Frankie McGrory has praised local community spirit after his bar flooded with up to eight inches of water. Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s News at One, Mr McGrory, owner of Lumpers Bar near Ravendale, said water was coming down the road “like a river from the mountain” and nearby houses were also completely flooded.

Sharon McGuigan, owner of the Carlingford Arms Bar and Restaurant told RTÉ that the water “had nowhere to go”. Within 15 or 20 minutes of high tide the water just came in.

“It was sewage, it was muck, it’s gravel. It just came in one door and at the other door.” Ms McGuigan said the fridges in the kitchen were “all destroyed”, and all electrical equipment was knocked off so cookers, food, everything was damaged.

She feared that the situation could be exacerbated tonight as heavy rain is forecast.

Eamonn Connolly, manager of Newry Business Improvement District Organisation told RTÉ it had been a long night.

“It’s certainly been unprecedented. Part of Newry looks like a lake. It literally is inaccessible unless by boat and the canal and the river are at maximum capacity. Now, we have a full tide at the minute, which has us nervous, but thankfully, it’s not really present. There’s extensive damage, extensive damage throughout Newry. And this is just an unheralded. Mr Connolly said he did not have an exact headcount of the number of premises impacted.

Many of the businesses were excluded from having flood insurance as they were on a flood plain, he said. “We’ve never had anything of this extent in the past, so I’m just not sure what faces us. But we’re looking at real substantive losses for businesses and long term remediation before they can get back and open again.

Some houses in the Haven estate at Rosslare Strand in Wexford were badly affected on Monday and several residents were taken from their properties in an inflatable dinghy, where up to a metre of water was reported.

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In Rosslare on Monday, local Coastguard volunteer Alan Duggan was involved in efforts to help people get to dry land in the Haven estate in Rosslare, which is mostly made up of holiday homes.

“I walked in chest waders and the water was up to my waist outside of someone’s front door,” he said.

“There are about 35 to 40 houses in the Haven and around 15 of them are flooded.”

Mr Duggan said he used to live in the estate and he had never witnessed flooding on that scale before.

Elsewhere, forecasters have said Storm Ciarán poses a potential threat to life in southern England later this week, bringing gusts of wind likely to hit 80mph. - Additional reporting: Agencies