Heavy rain and strong winds have left thousands of acres under water and several county roads flooded in parts of Cork and Kerry. Heavy overnight rain caused problems in east Kerry and north Cork, where the Blackwater burst its banks.
In Duhallow, the floods almost claimed a life when a local farmer was caught in heavy floodwater. The farmer, in his 50s, was crossing a bridge spanning the Blackwater near Ballydaly between Mill street and Rathmore when his tractor cut out and he had to stay with it amid rising floodwaters.
A neighbouring farmer spotted him in difficulty and gardai were alerted. They decided the floodwaters, which were fanning out over some 400 yards, were too swift to risk launching a boat so they called in Killarney Lake Rescue. The Killarney team reached the far mer using tackle and wetsuits and brought him to safety. He was uninjured but badly shaken by his two-hour ordeal. The Blackwater also burst its banks further downstream flooding the Mallow-Killarney road at Roskeen and Clonkeen as well as several approach roads to Mallow, where Park Road, St Joseph's Road, the Spa and the Killavullen road were closed. As the heavy rain carried downstream, Fermoy was preparing itself for possible flooding along the quays and in Pearse and Brian Boru squares.
Elsewhere in Co Cork, there was flooding on a number of minor roads including the outskirts of Doneraile, some approach roads to Macroom and the outskirts of Clonakilty and Dunmanway. In Cork city, a number of low-lying streets were flooded early yesterday morning, with Rutland Street, South Terrace, Sharman Crawford Street, Centrepark Road and Monaghan Road among the worst affected.
In Co Kerry, the main Mallow-Killarney road was impassable for a time at Barraduff, while the main Killarney-Killorglin road was also closed due to heavy flooding at Fossa.
There was also heavy flooding on the main Killorglin-Tralee road at Castlemaine while on the Dingle peninsula the main Killarney-Dingle road was closed for a time at Inch because of the heavy rains.
Met Eireann at Cork Airport reported 33 mm of rainfall from midnight to noon yesterday with winds of almost 60 m.p.h. while Met Eireann at Valentia reported 30 mm of rainfall with winds of almost 70 m.p.h.
Gardai in Waterford were last night attempting to identify the body of man recovered from St John's River in the city yesterday. The body of a man thought to be in his 20s was taken from the Suir tributary at Bath Street. It was brought to Waterford Regional Hospital where a post-mortem was carried out.
Also yesterday, the air support unit based at Waterford Regional Airport searched a large stretch of the river Suir, after a body was reported to be in the water close to Rice Bridge in the city. However, nothing was found.