Motorists in West Cork are being advised to drive with extreme caution through flowing or standing water and to exercise caution following overnight heavy rainfall that led to some roads being completely flooded while in other cases fallen trees have blocked access.
And it's not over yet as today is expected to continue to be wet and windy with further spells of heavy rain and the continued risk of localised flooding with a status Orange rainfall warning and a status Yellow wind warning remains in place and south to southwest winds expected to reach mean wind speeds of 50 to 65km/h, with gusts of 90 to 110km/h. Where winds are onshore there is a risk of coastal flooding.
Met Éireann said there will be ‘strong and gusty southerly winds, reaching near gale to gale force on coasts, with highest temperatures of 11 to 13 degrees.
Cork County Council’s Severe Weather Assessment Team convened early this morning in relation to the impact of the weather overnight and to monitor locations throughout the day.
Pumping arrangements were in operation throughout the night at known risk locations at Bantry, Dunmanway, Skibbereen, Bandon, and Clonakilty with no major flooding of properties having been reported. Council staff are monitoring all known problem locations throughout today and into Wednesday.
Sandbags have been deployed to known flood locations throughout the county and in Bantry, which is a regular victim of flooding, sandbags were made available to local residents yesterday with high tide expected later this lunchtime.
Several reports have come in of falling trees, including at Five Mile Bridge on the Cork/ Kinsale Rd (R600) which has now been cleared, the R607 between Kinsale and Halfway where the road is blocked as a result and also between Macroom and Inchigeelagh, while the road between Broadale and Carrigaline is blocked at Maryborough Hill due to a fallen pole.
The Dunmanway/Macroom Rd (R587) is impassable just north of Dunmanway at Ardcahan due to flooding while emergency services have cleared a collision on the N22 between Lissarda and Macroom and flooding has been reported on the Macroom/Toonsbridge Rd (R584) . There is also flooding on the R586 between junction with R637 at Ballincarriga and Manch (by Carbery Group’s factory) and the L4625 closed at the Idle Bridge, Manch (road from R586 to wards Coppeen).Extra caution is advised.
ESB Networks has also reported a fault in Béal na Bláth with power not expected to be restored until later this afternoon.
Cork County Hall will be closed to the public today Tuesday and potentially tomorrow on a precautionary basis due to the risk of flooding, while both Bandon Civic Amenity Site and Rafeen Civic Amenity Site are closed until further notice due to high winds.
Cork County Council said it would continue to monitor the situation and convene as required over the next 48 hours.
Meanwhile, issues such as fallen trees, flooding and road damage should be reported to the Council’s emergency out of hours number at (021) 4800048.
The Council will provide updates on www.corkcoco.ie and on the Council’s social media channels @Corkcoco.
In the event of disruption to power supply, please contact ESB Networks at 1850 372 999. Fallen or grounded wires should be avoided, and the public are advised call ESB in assisting with the identification of location of fallen wires.
In the event of disruption to water supply, please contact Irish Water at 1850 278 278.
