Public warned that flooding risk not confined to counties with rain warnings

The public have been asked to be vigilant of possible flooding over the weekend as further heavy rainfall is expected.

The National Emergency Co-ordination Group warned that the risk of flooding was not confined to counties with weather alerts in place as it urged caution and asked people to stay informed through Met Eireann and local authorities.

It also warned people not to drive through flood water, to stay away from riverbanks and coasts and to check in with neighbours and loved ones.

Status yellow rainfall warnings were issued for seven counties in the Republic, and all counties in Northern Ireland, as grounds remain sodden and flooded communities continue the clean-up.

Met Eireann’s rainfall warning for counties Dublin, Carlow, Kilkenny, Louth, Waterford, Wexford, and Wicklow came into effect at noon and expires at midnight.

In Northern Ireland, there was a yellow-level warning for rain in place until 6pm on Friday.

It comes as communities south Dublin and in Wexford – such as Enniscorthy and Bunclody – reel after flooding during the week, forcing families to flee their homes and damaging businesses.

“We’re not out of the danger period,” Wexford County Council chief executive Eddie Taaffe said on Friday.

The council has warned people that all floodwater is “contaminated” and not to approach it.

He told RTE Radio’s Morning Ireland that it had been a “very difficult week” and that, while water levels were rising, they were only rising “relatively slow” since Thursday afternoon.

“We remain vigilant, we’re expecting more rain tonight, we’re under a yellow warning alert again, we’re not out of the period of danger, and the next 48 hours I suppose we’re on high flood alert in Enniscorthy and Bunclody.

“We are expecting more rain so the next 48 hours we would ask people to be vigilant and we would ask people throughout the county to take care while driving.”

Residents have been warned to prepare for more flooding as further heavy rain is forecast over the bank holiday weekend.

The National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG) met on Friday to prepare for the risk of further flooding over the weekend.

The NECG warned that due to sodden grounds, flooding is possible in many areas of the country and the risk is not confined to those areas with yellow rain warnings in place.

It said: “The public are urged to be vigilant as situations can change very quickly and even small amounts of rain could result in significant impacts in areas where river levels are high and/or where the ground is already saturated.”

The NECG will also meet again over the bank holiday weekend to co-ordinate the response.

Clean-up operations continued amid more rain in some of the worst-affected towns, like Enniscorthy and Aughrim.

These areas were on the itinerary for Minister of State for the Office of Public Works Kevin “Boxer” Moran on Thursday, as he assessed some of the flood damage after Storm Chandra.

An emergency response payment has been made available to those living in properties directly affected by flooding, while businesses can avail of the emergency humanitarian flooding scheme.

Earlier in the week, heavy winds and torrential rain caused significant disruption across the island of Ireland, including power outages, flight cancellations and rail disruptions as well as 300 school closures in Northern Ireland.

Up to 20,000 properties were without power at the peak of Storm Chandra.

The scale of the flooding in some areas has heaped pressure on forecaster Met Eireann, the Government and local authorities over whether the warnings were sufficient.

Minister for Housing and Local Government, James Browne, said that information should not be “guarded” and he had asked Met Eireann to look at how they assess what level of weather warning is warranted.

The Wexford TD told South East Radio’s Morning Mix, during the week, that Met Eireann needed to improve communications and said he was “really frustrated that some state agencies seem to think that it’s their duty to somehow withhold information”.