Deirdre Clune TD has called on Cork Council to immediately investigate the reason why heavy rain caused flash flooding problems in the Cork Harbour area. A full report would allow urgent work to be carried out to prevent a repeat of these incidents later this winter.

Glenbrook, Carrigaline, Ballygarvan and Rochestown all faced flooding problems as a result of heavy rains yesterday. Glenbrook residents face a major clean up as a result of being hit by the worst of the flooding.

A full report on this incident is now needed from the County Manager as a matter of urgency. Any such report will have to explain:
why the current systems could not cope with the exceptionally heavy rains and how this can be rectified,
what investment in manpower and infrastructure is needed and
where emergency funding can be found to carry out this work.

High tide was around midnight last night with low tide at 6pm and therefore did not contribute to the flooding problems.

From speaking to local residents it appears that unblocking local gullies could have helped alleviate the problem. Gullies are always blocked at this time of year as a result of seasonal leaf fall. It is inexcusable that these gullies are not cleared at this time of year. This is an annual problem that is entirely predictable. The consequences of not carrying out this work on an annual basis far out weights the cost of unblocking gullies.

Facing into the winter we will undoubtedly have more heavy rainfall in the weeks and months to come. We need to know that residents are safe in their homes and that local property will not be damaged, as it was last night. Fortunately nobody was hurt in these incidents but such an outcome can not be guaranteed in any future incident. It is easy to imagine the tragic consequences that could have resulted from incidents such as that in Glenbrook.