'We are all just devastated': Historic Cork hurling club badly damaged by Storm Babet

Water started coming into the Co Cork club grounds in Riverstown, in Glanmire at around 11am on Wednesday.

Cork County Council officials advised staff in the club to evacuate and — just 45 minutes later — a tide of water gushed in through the main gates.

“We had to open the gates to relieve the water pressure because the houses across the road from us were getting flooded,” said club chairman Keith Mulcahy. “We had no choice. We had to open the gates."

Club buildings including the gym, offices and cellar are tonight under around two feet of water, and the main pitch — which has sewerage and broken glass spread all around it - has been ruined, according to club officials.

Supporting walls around the pitch and grounds have also been washed away. Mr Mulcahy said: “In around 2016, or 2017 we were hit by a bad flood, but what has happened here is way worse.

“We are just devastated by this. The pitch has been absolutely ruined.

It will have to be totally redone because there is glass and everything on it, and sewerage from the drains because those drains burst. It’s a huge job and very devastating after the few days we have had celebrating winning the county final on Sunday and we had a couple of great days celebrating.

He said the club received no warning about the extent of the floods.

“That’s the concerning thing,” he said. "There was only an orange warning but there should have been a red warning. We didn’t see this at all this morning.

“Rain was heavy this morning and conditions were poor, but I just didn’t see this happening.

“In the space of a couple of hours the place has been destroyed.”

He said it was too soon to say whether or not the the club will be launching a fundraiser to raise funds for ground and club house repairs.

For now, we are figuring out where to begin and what to do about the amount of damage because we don't really know what our next step is.

"We will investigate things over the next day or two. We are all just devastated and gutted by what has happened."

The club in a statement on Wednesday that the pitch committee and volunteers made the decision to allow their main pitch to flood in the hope that it would save the surrounding community from any further damage.

Mr Mulcahy said a priority for the club, who beat Midleton in last Sunday's Senior Co-Op Superstores Premier SHC final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, is to find a ground to train on.

The club's seniors have the Munster Club Championships against Waterford's Ballygunner in three weeks time.

Added to that, the club's senior Camogie ladies are in the county final on Sunday.

"The ladies were due to train at the club this week but they now need somewhere else to train," Mr Mulcahy said.

"Our sister football club Glanmire in fairness have their pitch under water, but it is not as bad. They have offered us their pitch as soon as it dries out a bit.

"So, we are going to be under pressure with our facilities ruined."