Flash Floods Hit Ireland on Saturday 9th August 2008
The equivalent to a month's average rain fell in parts of Dublin. Met Éireann said that in the 24-hour period from midnight Friday until midnight Saturday 76.2mm of rain was recorded at Dublin Airport, a new record for August.
The previous record was 73mm which was noted in 1986 associated with Hurricane Charlie. In the north of the capital Drumcondra and Swords and in the south of the city Firhouse and Knocklyon had severe flooding.
Parts of County Kildare were badly affected. Many roads in the Dublin area were closed including the M50 and M1 motorways and these did not open till late on the Sunday evening. The southbound lane of the Port Tunnel as shut. A lot of damage was done to property and the telephone service badly affected with some lines not functioning properly till Wednesday..
The River Arra in Newcastle West burst its banks after heavy rains, leaving the local ESB station submerged in water. Around 7,000 ESB customers lost power as a result.
Following this as climate research is indicating that extreme weather events such as the very heavy rain on Saturday are likely to become more common. This means that better planning will be required in flood plain areas - Near rivers and streams.
This issue has been of great concern in the UK over the past 18 months and the subject of building on the flood plain is now very much evident in Ireland.
Climatologist Professor John Sweeney of the Geography Department NUI (National University of Ireland) Maynooth was quoted in the Irish Times and the Irish Independent. He said "Once you start urbanisation on flood plains, you remove the storage capacity for flooding and water ends up going into the main channel down stream. Low lying, more vulnerable areas should not be built on, we should not be putting people in there and you have to be very careful about putting infrastructure such as roads and rail in."
Professor Sweeney went on to say" When walls are put around a development this can affect other areas and make the flood peak quicker than it otherwise would"
Earlier in 2008 the Department of the Environment has issued new planning guidelines to local authorities that recommend land in areas at the highest risk from flooding should be used for amenity purposes and car parking, ahead of housing, however the Department did not propose banning building on flood plains.
Further flooding occurred in the Dublin area on Tuesday 12th August following heavy rain.
A Met Éireann weather man has said that Ireland will have to plan and build high capacity storm drains and flood defences along major roads and in housing estates to cope with weather conditions like those over the past week. Heavy rainfall as experienced on the 9th August in the Dublin area is likely to be a recurring event.
Flood Related information
Adequate Buildings insurance Keep your home / investment protected
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