Cork the county that suffered the most financially from storm flood damage in 2023
After Storm Larry In Hit Cummins Mud In Shopping Picture: Park Hazelwood Glanmire Centre During October Behind Babet File The 2023 Floods In Left Car
Cork is the worst hit county financially when it comes to storm flooding damage, the latest figures show.
Data from the Irish Red Cross, which administers a flood relief fund to small businesses, gave 95% of the €9,273,963 administered in 2023, to businesses in Cork.
Furthermore, in the same year, Cork received the highest daily rainfall in a single day compared to any other place in Ireland, according to Met Éireann. On October 18, 2023, during Storm Babet, a total of 55.6mm of rainfall was measured at Cork Airport — the single highest fall in the country on a single day.
Other data from Met Éireann also records Cork as being the most affected county in Ireland when it comes to water. Of the 14 major weather events in the 2023/2024 storm season, the highest wave was recorded off Cork on seven of those occasions.
The highest wave recorded off the county was 17.8m high on December 31, 2023. In context, the next highest wave recorded measured at 19.2m, in January 2024, but in the “deep Atlantic”.
However, the flooding experienced in Cork, especially in places like Glanmire during Babet in 2023, was a result of rain, and not related to tides.
As a result of the extreme flooding, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment opened the Emergency Humanitarian Support Scheme for small businesses, sports clubs, community and voluntary organisations which were unable to secure flood insurance and were affected by the flooding in Cork.
The Irish Red Cross administered the fund. The overall pay-out to business owners after Storm Babet was €9,273,963. A spokesperson for the Irish Red Cross told the that “well over 95% of these were for Cork”.
In total, 266 business owners were compensated, via two separate schemes — the Emergency Flood Relief Fund with an initial payment of €5,000 rising to €20,000; and the Enhanced Flood Relief Fund with an initial payment of €10,000 rising to €100,000.
The pay-outs under the first scheme came to €1,064,315 and to €8,209,648.00 for the second one. There were a total of 35 claimants who received €100,000.
Businesses or community organisations in Cork were not the only ones affected, as other counties supported included Galway, Louth, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow.
The storm season of 2024/2025 will run into spring. Therefore the final data for that period is not available.
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