A meeting of Galway County Council heard on Monday that parts of the county, particularly in South Galway, are on ‘high alert’ because of rising flood waters.
A dozen roads were closed due to flooding on Monday, and ten of them were within a four-mile radius of Gort, said Cllr Joe Byrne (FG).
“A number of households will be at serious risk of flooding in the next number of weeks,” said Cllr Byrne, who sought assurances that the County Council and Office of Public Works (OPW) would put in place emergency measures to aid at-risk homes and farms.
Cllr Gerry Finnerty (FF) said “thousands of acres of farming fields” are under water. He said the situation was frustrating and frightening for farmers who are trying to move livestock. Kiltartan Church, which completely flooded in 2015, is at risk of flooding again, he said.
Cllr Tomás Ó Curraoin (RSF) said that in his lifetime, he had never seen the amount of rain that we’ve experienced in Galway this Winter. He said blocked drains and blocked rivers were adding to the problem, because water had nowhere to go.
Cllr Malachy Noone (FF) agreed and said the problem now was not one singular flooding event, such as in 2009 and 2015/16 – it was persistent rain. “It has been raining consistently since last May. There has been no let-up. The water has not subsided, it is rising steadily,” he said.
Cllr Martina Kinnane (FF) said untold damage was caused to businesses in Clarinbridge and Oranmore during the floods associated with Storm Eleanor earlier this month. She said businesses couldn’t get sandbags to protect their premises, during the storm, which was “quite frightening”. She said it was all very well putting alerts out of Facebook and Twitter but there needed to be a system in place to warn ordinary people, who don’t use social media, or impending flood and storm risks.
Cllr Gabe Cronnelly (Ind) criticised the amount of money that was given to the County Council by central government in the aftermath of Storm Ophelia – just over €200,000. “Is that all we got,” he asked.
Cllr Jim Cuddy (Ind) said the Council “has known for years” that the main road through Claregalway floods. He said the ratepayers in Claregalway are angry that the road hasn’t been properly repairer to take cognisance of the flood risk there.
Director of Services Jim Cullen said the recent storms couple with large quantities of rainfall over the Autumn and Winter has contributed to the increased flood risk, particularly in South Galway. The Council has plans in place to respond to the flood threats.
He explained that it was the role of OPW to provide assistance to householders at risk of flooding, however, he insisted the County Council has “a very good record” with regard distribution of sandbags and assisting flood victims and those at risk of flooding.
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