Flooding and road closures after River Dodder bursts banks

Residents in Rathfarnham in Dublin were baffled yesterday morning when they woke to flooding and road closures following a night of almost no rain.

The River Dodder broke its banks at several places causing flooding at Dodder Park Road, Dartry Park and Orwell Park. The playing fields of the Merrion Cricket Club Ground at Mount Merrion and the car- park of the Dropping Well pub were also flooded.

Dublin City Council senior executive engineer Mr Gerard O'Connell said there were "no indications" that houses or other properties had been damaged by the flood.

"The flooding would have started at about 4 or 5 in the morning. It peaked at about 8.15 a.m. and had reduced significantly by 8.45 a.m."

The river rose by about 8 inches, and broke its banks. The flooding of Lower Dodder Park Road caused a stretch to be closed just before rush hour.

Council workers cleared dangerous fallen trees and other debris from the river to avoid blockages further down. "It's not unprecedented, but it was unexpected.

"We haven't had flooding this bad since November 2000," said Mr O'Connell.

However, Met Éireann said the Dublin weather stations at Casement Aerodrome and Dublin airport recorded just a ½ inch of rain in the previous 24 hours.

"We would issue flood warnings in areas when the rain reaches 2 inches in 24 hours, or in some areas, 1½ inches, but neither of these criteria were reached," said forecaster Mr Aidan Nulty.

While there was "no big deluge" anywhere on Monday night, 1¾ inches of rain were recorded at the Bohernabreena reservoir in the Wicklow Mountains.

The build-up of this water at river source was the most likely cause of the flood further downstream, said Mr Nulty.

"While this was below the warning limit it could certainly account for the flooding."

Further flooding is unlikely as Met Éireann forecasts dry weather up to and including the weekend.