Country counting cost of Storm Bert as clean-up operation gets underway
Counties along the western seaboard were particularly badly affected by the storm, which caused severe flooding in many areas
A multi-million-euro clean-up operation is underway in the west after Storm Bert’s gales and torrential rain caused severe flooding.
The violent weather system that roared across the entire country this weekend, caused particularly severe damage in Galway and Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Donegal.
More than 60,000 homes and businesses were left without power overnight on Friday as more than 100 roads nationwide were left impassable on Saturday.
Significant destruction was also caused to areas in the north.
Enterprise Minister Peter Burke wants the Emergency Humanitarian Flooding Scheme re-opened. This provides financial support to businesses that had been unable to secure flood insurance and were impacted by flood water as a result of severe weather events. Killybegs in Co Donegal and Listowel in Co Kerry were among the worst-affected areas.
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Mr Burke said: “I fully appreciate the trauma and distress that such a flood event has on our vitally important local businesses, particularly at this time of year. I would like to assure traders that I will be working across government to assist businesses as required.
A status red warning was in place Friday into Saturday night for Galway and Cork before heavy downpours.
A yellow wind warning remained in place for Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo until 2am yesterday and 8am for Donegal. As the worst of Storm Bert is over, Met Éireann’s Aoife Kealy said winds would gradually ease from today.
She said: “Storm Bert will be pulling away from us at that stage. It will still be a rather blustery day today but it will gradually improve. It won’t be completely dry, there will be a few showers spreading from the west and they could be quite heavy too. But it’s definitely an improvement from the weekend.”
In Listowel, Co Kerry, more than 100 people were evacuated from their homes on Saturday as the River Feale breached its banks at Bridge Road.
Met Éireann said the river exceeded its highest level in 20 years.
As of yesterday, 800 homes in Donegal were still left without power, as major repairs continued.
A couple who own a sheep farm in Black Valley, Co Kerry have been left devastated as their property was destroyed by the storm.
It is a not-for-profit business that relies on subsidies from the government. Owners JJ and Sandra make some money from renting out a cottage on the land, but it has been completely submerged in water.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up by her sister Saskia Spethmann as she hopes to mitigate some of the damage. She said: “The entire road from the farm to the outside world has been completely destroyed by the water. Most roads are private property (which is often common in the area) so they have to rebuild it themselves.”
Mallow, Co Cork, was one of the worst-affected areas as the heavy rain and high tides caused major flooding.
A photo taken on Saturday night showed Park Road in the town look like a river. The water almost completely submerged a bus stop and traffic lights. The road is next to the River Blackwater, which broke its banks earlier that day.
While Storm Bert devastated the west of the country over the weekend, unseasonably mild temperatures were also recorded.
However, it is set to get colder this week with night-time temperatures falling to -3C.
Meteorologist Aoife Kealy said: “Tomorrow and Wednesday look a lot drier. There will be high pressure building over the country and that will allow a bit of sunshine through and the winds will ease off but it will also bring some cooler temperatures.
“Tomorrow the highest temperatures will be about 6C to 8C and night time temperatures will fall to between -3C and 2C. So definitely cooler and there will be a possibility for fog and ice. Tuesday night there will also be some fog developing and that could linger in place through the day on Wednesday, especially in the Midlands.
“And that will keep temperatures cooler, so temperatures 3C to 7C on Wednesday.” While this week won’t be as cold as the 0C temperatures seen in some parts of the country last week, it’s slightly below average for this time of year. By Thursday and into Friday we are going to see that colder weather displaced. So it will only be really chilly Tuesday and Wednesday.
“Then, Thursday it’s going to turn a bit cloudier with milder air coming from the southwest. There will be some outbreaks of rain on Friday and the weekend it will turn a bit more unsettled with rain and showers at times and a bit breezy at times but not as bad as last weekend.”
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