Freak Munster floods kill cattle
Several cattle drowned and an elderly woman had to be airlifted to hospital today during freak floods that devastated homes and businesses.
The cost of the damage in Newcastle West, Co Limerick, after the River Arra burst its banks overnight, is already being estimated at millions of euro.
Thousands of households remained without electricity today as distraught residents and business-owners helped in the massive clear-up operation.
Patrick O’Donovan, a county councillor for the town who watched the crisis unfold in the early hours of the morning, said he had never witnessed scenes like it.
“It was like something out of a horror film,” he said.
“I have never seen so much water floating down a street, there were cars and vans floating down the street.
“This has never happened before. The rain was like a monsoon here last night.”
Firefighters and rescue workers fought for four hours this afternoon to save drowning cattle stranded in a field close to Rathkeale, north of the town.
Assistant Chief Fire Officer Carl Weaver of Limerick County Fire Service said six of the animals died as others in the traumatised herd were hoisted aboard rescue boats.
“We managed to save seven of 13 cattle,” he said.
“They were stranded in the flood water in a field near Rathkeale.”
The Irish Coast Guard said it airlifted one elderly woman to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick city to be treated for hypothermia.
She was found along with her husband wading through a field of water around 100 yards from their home which was swamped by the flood.
A Health Service Executive spokesman said she was in a stable condition.
Another person was winced to safety from a house by one of two Coastguard helicopters that used powerful floodlights to illuminate the town through the night.
Mr O’Donovan was standing at the River Arra as it breached the defences after getting calls from worried constituents in outlying areas about the water rising.
“The river was at the banks and, as I was watching, it was coming over the wall,” he said.
“At one stage it was at my ankles, and as I turned the corner to leave it was at my knees.”
The councillor said the cost of the damage to homes and businesses would be massive.
“We are probably looking at millions of euro,” he said.
“At one stage there was about five feet of water, half of the town was under it. The place has been devastated, houses and businesses destroyed.”
Eugene Griffin, Limerick County Secretary, said a cloudburst during unusually heavy rains swelled the river to breaking point.
The senior official said there are concerns about the safety of the water supply as the local treatment plant was also hit by the first flood in the town in living memory.
Residents have been asked to conserve water until tests have been carried out.
Mr Griffin said council trucks had to rescue several people who climbed onto the roofs of their cars after being caught in the water.
Limerick County Council launched its own emergency operation when calls started to come in around midnight, ahead of the worst surges between 3am and 4am.
Business leaders in the town urged the Government to step in with immediate assistance for everybody affected.
Around 100 homes in the South Quay area and 50 businesses on Bridge Street and North Quay are facing massive clean-up bills, it is believed.
Pat O’Donovan, a spokesman for Newcastle West Business Association and owner of a local insurance company, has been inundated with calls from customers.
“People are crying and some people are saying that they’ve no insurance and their stock is ruined,” he said.
“It came up 4ft to the third drawer in a four drawer filing cabinet in our office – we’re not even on the river.”
The insurer said most businesses remained without electricity and phones today.
“We would hope that the Government would come in and give us assistance because this was a freak, unique one,” he said.
Mr O’Donovan said one car was stuck on railings at the steps of the river walk after being swept 800 yards down the river.
“Old people in the town never ever remembered anything like this before,” he said.
“It was completely unexpected.”
The ESB said it was working to restore power to 2,500 homes as council crews embarked on a massive clean-up operation to remove debris from the streets.
The main N21 road through the town reopened today but some smaller roads remain impassable.
