Farmgate, Midleton: 'Storm Babet floods destroyed our life's work in a single day'

One minute the staff were going about their day — it was a production day and the restaurant was closed to customers — the next minute, at around 11.30, our head chef David noticed the drains outside our front door on the street were bubbling over.

Things progressed quickly. At around noon, we received an email telling us to be on alert because of a concern the Owenacurra river might burst its banks. We rang the council. We explained we couldn’t get sandbags anywhere as there were none available in the town and they said there was nothing they could do.

Absolute carnage

By 1pm, it had become evident a major disaster was unfolding. The drains were very clearly blocked and there was no place for the water to go. After that, it was absolute carnage. The water was coming in the door at such a high speed, it was coming up through the drains and into the side of the building, it was literally coming from every part of the restaurant. It was like a disaster movie.

It’s nearly eight years since we last flooded but back then the water was about 2ft high. It sounds crazy but on Wednesday there was a river flowing through the whole restaurant, all five dining rooms, the food store, and the kitchen, and the water was waist high.

All stock was lifted up, but there was nothing we could do, particularly once the river broke its banks. The electricity blew and the staff’s safety became a top priority. And nobody could come to our aid because no one was allowed into the town. 

The fire service did Trojan work but the whole town was in a state of emergency, and they began the difficult process of deciding who to evacuate first.

Our team stood on tables waiting to be rescued by the fire service, who came just after 6pm. We are very grateful to them. We would also like to sincerely thank all the members of the community here in Midleton who offered to help. Some of our loyal customers took the day off work to help us with the mammoth clean-up. We owe them huge thanks — the spirit in this town is phenomenal.

Everything destroyed

It’s not an exaggeration to say everything was destroyed, including the kitchen, which is the engine room of a business like ours. We are still assessing the extent of the damage done. The kitchen equipment alone is worth tens of thousands of euros.

Anger never solves anything, but this is the second time this has happened in Midleton. So, there’s an incredibly frustrating Groundhog Day aspect to all of this. 

And, you question why in the first instance we had no adequate warning or indeed any warning until that email arrived at midday. There needs to be a more accurate targeted weather warning on a localised level, not simply a country warning.

And you wonder why the drains on the street weren’t cleaned. This seems like basic stuff. Particularly given that back in 2015 clogged drains were flagged by traders in Middleton as being a major contributory factor to the problem of flooding. It makes no sense.

We were also promised in the wake of the last flood that flood prevention measures were going to be put in place. We had stressed how crucial flood barriers would be for the town because once you flood you can’t get insurance. 

We and other businesses knew that were we to flood again, it would jeopardise the reopening of the business. And that’s just what has happened to Farmgate and many other traders, and indeed homeowners, in the town.

Businesses can’t survive if they’re not protected from flooding, and they can’t get insurance. And it’s completely unrealistic to expect small businesses to reinvest in their businesses, and then to be decimated when the next flood happens. The basic economics don’t work.

Compensation

In 2015, there was talk that the Government should have a stronger role in compensating businesses for flood damage. One suggestion made at the time was that there might be some sort of central government insurance fund that would apply to businesses. Nothing came of it.

Because that’s the thing. When a flood happens there’s an immediate impact, but after the clean-up, the story moves on, and it seems to be the case that ultimately nothing happens.

What are we and other businesses supposed to do now? Can the Government not engage with the insurance companies?

It took us over six weeks to get open the last time we flooded. In theory, we should be approaching the busiest time of our year, the Christmas season. This has always been peak season for businesses like ours. It’s incredibly important that you do well then, because it becomes so quiet between January and March.

Meanwhile, our industry is trying to recover from covid, which was hugely damaging to the restaurant sector. With the rising cost of Vat, food, energy, and wages, increased overheads were already making the effort to keep the doors open gruelling. Frankly, that was a battle in itself and now this catastrophe.

Waking up the next day to the reality of a shell of a business was numbing. I am a pragmatic person and have been in this business for years, but to be honest, I feel overwhelmed and most of all helpless that I can’t give the team any assurances about what the future holds for Farmgate and therefore for them.

It’s a devastating loss for my mother, who built up this business over 40 years — it’s her life’s work and for all of us at Farmgate. And it’s not just us obviously. There is major uncertainty in the town today. So many other traders have been badly hit and are just as frightened as us about what the future holds. We are all in it together.

• Sally O'Brien is owner and operator of the Farmgate Café, Midleton