Midleton fears another disaster amid ‘broken promises’ a year on from Storm Babet

Weather warnings have been issued by Met Éireann for the entire country this weekend, with Storm Ashley, the first named storm of the season, due to make landfall on Sunday. There are already orange weather warnings in place for Galway and Mayo, and there is a coastal flooding risk for much of the country due to high spring tides.

Storm Babet caused millions of euro worth of damage in Midleton a year ago this weekend, with parts of the busy east Cork town submerged under water by the “biblical floods”.

An estimated 500 homes were impacted. The town’s main road was under a metre of water, while the town itself saw roads both in and out of the area become impassable after the Owenacurra River burst its banks, requiring assistance from the army and civil defence.

Caroline Leahy, of the Midleton and East Cork Flood Action Group, said: “Exactly one year on, we are none the wiser about what to do [in the event of another flood].

“We don’t know where to get first aid, we don’t know where to get fresh water or other supplies and help in the event of a flood anywhere bearing the scale of what hit us last year.

“A lot of us do not get any sense of urgency from Cork County Council, and we are fed up with it.”

Ms Leahy said she has been trying since last May to get to see the council’s emergency flood plan.

“I have had broken promise after broken promise on it,” she said.

Ms Leahy said she and other residents are “terrified” not just about this weekend’s weather warnings related to the approaching Storm Ashley, but about the coming weeks and months.

“People get up in the middle of the night now every time there is heavy rain or storm warnings and they check river levels,” she said.

“I know a few people who simply don’t sleep.

“The damage to our homes last year was very substantial and a lot of us now have a collective trauma that manifests itself the minute we hear the rain start falling. We go to bed terrified that we are going to be flooded again.”

Cork County Council was asked for a comment on the residents’ claims but none was received at time of going to press.

The council has been in discussions with Met Éireann for close to a year about getting more targeted weather warnings because of the size of the county. While Storm Babet decimated Midleton, other parts of the county were much less badly impacted.

Similarly, the recent Status Orange alert on October 5 for counties Cork, Kerry, and Waterford resulted in a big flooding event in Bantry, where dozens of businesses and homes were hit but other parts of those counties suffered little.