Firefighters and Cork County Council staff joined with business owners in Bantry to battle against flooding after heavy rains led to several premises in the centre of the town being inundated with water.
Heavy rain all morning began to gather on both New Street and Main Street about 1pm after gullies were unable to take the volume of rain. Some premises were flooded as business owners struggled to contain rising water levels with sandbags and flood barriers.
Local Units of Cork County Fire Service assisted business owners by pumping water from their premises and water levels on the street began to drop at about 3pm.
It’s understood that up 20 premises may have been affected along Main Street, New Street and on the Square.
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Business owners and the emergency services are bracing themselves for a busy evening as high tide at 7.05pm in Bantry could lead to further flooding around the Square and adjoining streets if the quay walls are overspilled by water.
Elsewhere in Co Cork, there was also flooding on the Clonakilty Ring Road where a car got stuck in flood waters. There were also reports of flooding on sections of the Bandon to Kilbrittain Road as well as on sections of the N71 between Glengarriff and Kenmare.
Meanwhile, torrential rain in Cork city has left council staff, as well as business and homeowners, anxiously watching the river Lee where high tide is due shortly after 7.30pm, particularly if both the north and south channels of the river are swollen with floodwaters.
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