Emergency teams at risk from ‘flood tourists’ taking photos

People visiting flooded areas on boats and trying to take pictures present a “hazard” to emergency services trying to deal with the floods, it emerged on Friday.

Coining the term 'flood tourism', National Co-ordination Group chairman John Barry urged members of the public not to expose themselves to unnecessary danger amid reports that amateur photographers were using boats to take photos in areas where flood waters were close to overhead power lines.

“There have been people on boats in inundated land going, possibly, to take pictures. We hear of photographers making trips of that sort. There’s a significant hazard if they are in very deep flood waters and are coming very close to power lines, so that’s a concern,” he said.

He continued: “People are putting themselves in unnecessary danger and possibly creating a hazard for other people and a hazard for emergency services.”

Latest estimates show that nearly 900 premises have been inundated over the last month, with some 470 homes and 388 businesses suffering significant flooding in the aftermath of storms Desmond and Frank.

Around 200 houses have been restored to a habitable state but 270 remain unoccupied, and Brendan McGrath of the City and County Managers Association said some local authorities have now begun to submit their latest round of damage estimates as flood waters continue to subside.

"We reviewed every county in Ireland. In some counties the recovery phase has most definitely happened, and we're now beginning to start the damage estimates," he said, mentioning that millions more will likely be needed.

“It’s still too soon to put a cumulative figure on it because until water has fully receded in some areas you can’t assess the exact damage.”

The Government set aside €8 million to help with the cleanup following Storm Desmond, and this was topped up with a further €10 million earlier this week. Estimates of the costs of repairing roads damaged by flooding have been placed at €100 million.

Emergency services dealt with over 20,000 calls between 3rd December and the start of January, it was revealed, but Met Éireann provided further confirmation that the worst is over for now with extended dry spells for many areas over the next five days, and occasional heavy showers for western, southern and southeastern coasts.

Water levels on the river Shannon generally are continuing to decline, with reductions of up to 10cm recorded over the last 48 hours. Lough Ree remains 2cm above its 2009 peak.

Increases have been noted on the Blackwater, Moy and Boyne rivers over the same period, and the Office of Public Works sought to reaffirm that the middle and lower sections of the Shannon remained in a severe flood situation, along with the Erne’s upper catchment.

Stabilising water levels on Lough Derg mean the spill rate at Parteen Weir will be kept at 470 cubic centimetres per second according to the ESB, which is "cautiously optimistic" that this will be reduced over the coming days.

Around 100 Defence Forces personnel are still stationed across Clonlara, Dungarvan, Shannonbridge and Athlone where they are contributing to pumping operations and providing transport services.