Schull businesses flooded after unexpected ‘deluge'

BY JACKIE KEOGH

EIGHT business owners in Schull were shocked last Monday morning to find their premises had been flooded overnight.

Local businessman Jeremy Brosnan told The Southern Star that they had been vigilant – following the Met Éireann status yellow rainfall warning on Sunday – and checked the Main Street water drainage grates to make sure that they were clear.

He confirmed they were, in fact, clear, but such was the level of rainfall on Sunday night and Monday morning that loose leaves must have blocked the grates, causing the water to back up and flood eight businesses on one side of the street.

Jeremy said they began to flood at about 2.15am and that the water seeped back out over a two-hour period so all that was left behind when they opened their doors at 9am was a mud slick.

A spokesperson for Cork County Council confirmed that the grates and gullies in Schull were clear before the deluge and that the drainage system was ‘unable to deal with the sheer volume of rain that fell.’

Local authority staff and the local fire brigade crews were on hand to help with the clean-up, as well as a lot of locals. Jeremy said: ‘Everyone ‘rallied around and it was business as usual at 9am.’

The affected businesses included the charity shop Brú Columbanus, Modern Botany, Brosnan’s Hardware, the Paradise Crepe restaurant, Present Company, Drinagh Pharmacy, James Lyons O’Keeffe and the Roaring Water Health Store.

Jeremy said they were pleased to see that the Council has since installed a side entry manhole cover at the lowest point on Main Street. This letterbox-like opening will allow surface water to enter even if the grates become blocked with debris.

Meanwhile, flooding on the Ring road on Tuesday  forced several motorists coming from Clonakilty to turn back and take a detour¬ which has prompted a local councillor to call for funding for remedial works.

Cllr Paul Hayes said: ‘Unfortunately the Ring road was left behind as it wasn’t part of the Clonakilty Flood Relief Scheme. I have asked the Council to look again at sourcing some funding for remedial works on the Ring road which becomes impassable during high tide.’

One fed up resident told The Southern Star that the only part of the road that didn’t flood on Tuesday night was the corner of the road that was elevated by three metres during works there last year.