CORK County Council’s Severe Weather Assessment Team convened this afternoon ahead of a Met Éireann status orange rainfall warning for Cork.
The warning comes into effect at midnight tonight and will remain in place until midnight Saturday night.
The Council says very heavy and persistent rain is forecast with the highest accumulation in mountainous areas of West Cork. There is a potential for tidal flooding in coastal areas which may lead to surface water flooding.
Possible impacts include river and coastal flooding, dangerous driving conditions and travel disruption.
Council crews have mobilised and continue to inspect key high-risk areas. They will be operating throughout the weekend and will continue to monitor the situation. ‘Pumping arrangements will be in place in known problem locations. Sandbags have been deployed to priority locations,’ said the Council, in a statement this afternoon.
Members of the public are advised to stay away from coastal areas and road users should pay particular attention to the risk posed by fallen trees and flying debris as trees are in full leaf. Never drive through flooded roads, the depth of the water can be deceiving, the Council warned.
Issues such as flooding and road damage can be reported over the course of the weekend to the Council’s emergency out-of-hours number (021) 4800048.
In the event of an emergency, call 999 or 112 and request the fire service, ambulance service, Gardaí or Irish Coastguard as appropriate. Do not assume others will do this.
In the event of a disruption to power supply, please contact ESB Networks at 1800 372 999. Fallen or grounded wires should be avoided and the public are advised to call ESB in assisting with the identification of fallen wires.
Weather updates are available at www.met.ie. Cork County Council will continue to provide updates on www.corkcoco.ie and across the Council’s social media channels @Corkcoco.
