University lectures suspended as floods hit UCC
Lectures at University College Cork will be postponed from Monday for a week.
The cancellations are due to flood damage in a number of key buildings after water levels rose across the city overnight.
The western edges of the city, including the land around UCC, were worst hit, with some roads impassable.
UCC lectures will resume as normal on Monday, November 30.
Communities in the south and west have been worst affected by the floods, the worst seen in some areas in 40 years.
Property has been damaged, commuter rail services delayed and the army deployed to rescue people trapped in their homes.
The drinking water supply to thousands of homes in Cork city has been shut off, amid fears that it may have been contaminated.
Parts of Galway and Clare are still suffering the effects of major flooding, while some streets in Athlone are under water.
One of the more dramatic rescues overnight was in Gort in Galway when Hugh O'Donnell and his family, including his 87 year old mother, had to be airlifted from their home.
Motorists in Galway have been advised not to use the main Dublin road which is flooded at Craughwell.
Ballinasloe is also experiencing flooding after the river Suck burst its banks and around 40 families have been forced to leave their homes.
The N6 Galway/Dublin Rd is closed at Ballinasloe and Galway West TD Frank Fahey has asked that the NRA open one carriageway of the new M6 Galway /Dublin road to allow traffic to move again.
Meanwhile, 120 guests have had to be evacuated from the Lake Hotel in Killarney.
Management were alerted last night when the car park began to flood after the nearby lake began to rise.
Guests have been re-located to other hotels in the area and staff and locals are assisting in the clean-up operation.
Across the country, the defence forces say they are responding to requests for assistance from the HSE and local authorities before direct contacts from flooded homeowners.
More than 100 soldiers, 15 trucks and four flat-bottomed boats are now in use in Cork City and county, Ennis, Clonmel and Ballinasloe.
More troops are on standby for the weekend if required, but Air Corps helicopters will only be used if the weather allows.
