Midleton flood 'worst in living memory' as historic East Cork pub under metre of water

With the water chest high in Midleton’s Darling Buds pre-school, a spokesperson for the creche said that adults helped remove children by piggy back after staff and children became trapped inside.

Similarly, parents had to wade through waters at the Educate Together National School to collect their children. 

The main road in Midleton was under 3ft feet 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.

Problems were exacerbated shortly after lunch time, when the wind and rain caused two power outages, one on either side of the town.

ESB engineers were unable to wade through the floods before three more faults were recorded in the afternoon — including one near the community hospital in the town.

Local Councillor Susan McCarthy described “bins, traffic cones, benches and even a skip” floating on the street. ”Its even dangerous wading through it”, she said. 

At one stage a man was seen kayaking down the street to check on people trapped in their businesses and homes.

Locals stranded 

Independent Cllr Liam Quaide told the Irish Examiner that the flooding in Midleton "really shows our vulnerability to climate change and the need for adaptation as well as mitigation. 

"I was bringing my daughter home from CUH and I cannot get to (our home) in Broomfield, because both ways are blocked.

"We're stranded in the Market Green centre where some people we've met have been waiting here for several hours to get home."

All rail services between Cork and Cobh and Cork and Midleton were suspended due to water on the line.

Cork County Council confirmed that more than 100 properties were flooded in the town. One of those belonged to Himalaya Yoga Studio on Mill Road.

Maeve O'Brien from the studio said that they had been "hit very hard"

She explained that due to the floods, they couldn't reach the studio to fully assess the damage.

It's a huge blow for all the businesses in Midleton. Ideally, we would open our doors tomorrow but we aren't too hopeful of that.

Ms O'Brien said it was "absolutely crucial" that all stakeholders worked together to get a flood relief system in place to prevent future issues.

Councillor Danielle Twomey said the flood was the town’s “worst in living memory”.  She was one of the parents of children at Midleton’s Educate Together School who had to wade through knee-high water along Mill Road to get to the school.

“We drove our cars as near to the school as we could and then just waded out to the school,” she said. I was there to collect my two daughters and although the school itself was not flooded, the road to it was like a river. The water subsided after a while but when we went to collect our children, we had no idea how bad things would be.

“We didn’t want to take any chances. So, you had this scene of parents wading through flood waters with children on their backs.

“I have never seen anything like it in my life.”

She said several estates and Midleton hospital were under a metre of water and access to Midleton from Cloyne was cut off.

A rest centre was established in the town's community centre to facilitate those who required evacuation.

Meanwhile, in Killeagh, the historic Thatch pub and restaurant was under a metre of water after the adjacent River Dissour burst through at about 9.30am.

Proprietor Debbie Walsh said the water was “unstoppable” and “had nowhere to go” as it swept across the beer garden and into the bar, kitchen, and store room.

The pub, which dates from the mid 1600s, was almost destroyed by fire prior to Debbie and husband Brian taking it over seven years ago.

“The force of the water was actually dangerous”, Debbie recalls.

“The devastation has been extremely distressing and we're exhausted", she added, "but we’ll clean up and carry on. We are likely to be closed over the coming days", she added.

Imokily GAA secretary Patrick Mulcahy said the flood was "the worst in the area" and that "many older generations have never seen this before."

Youghal’s town centre escaped flooding but some estates and walls in the town were severely affected.

A section of wall that was being restored and scaffolding collapsed on Lighthouse Hill, while a huge pond was created at Chestnut Drive estate, as fast-flowing torrents ran downhill. Resident Shane Tobin said a wall collapse redirected almost two metres of water from the rear of his house at the last minute.

Meanwhile, James O’Connor TD, who surveyed flood damage in Midleton, said questions need to be asked about why there was not a red weather warning.

“The level of damage to Midleton and surrounding areas as far as Glanmire has been devastating There is a real sense of destruction," he said. 

Business have been flooded, the Defence Forces are here on the street, the community hospital has been evacuated and I see school children being brought up the main street on the back of trailers.

“People were not expecting this and it begs the question: why there not a red warning provided last night? Where was the red warning?

“The amount of water has been biblical. Water is running out under doors on the Main Street. It’s just soul destroying. The Main Street is ruined.

He said that what is needed now is support for families and businesses hit by the flooding.

“People are needing support and luckily the Park Hotel has started hosting families.”