Flood Report 10 for residents of Ballincollig & Cork

Met Eireann warns that there is worse to come

By Grainne Cunningham
Saturday November 21 2009
www.independent.ie

GRIM weather warnings from Met Eireann last night dashed any national hopes that the worst of the devastation from the flooding is behind us. With more heavy downpours on their way, forecaster Joan Blackburn summed up the outlook for this weekend with a bleak sentence: "It's not good." And she warned that it could be the middle of the week before water levels return to normal. It is predicted that up to 25mm of rain will fall in some places today, in short intense bursts. This band of heavy showers is expected to travel up from the south of the country this evening and in the early hours of tomorrow and could last for between four and six hours.

Records
While, Ms Blackburn said that amount of rain would not be considered extreme, it is falling on flooded and soaked land, after a record-breaking wet November. With nine days to go, the weather stations at Sherkin Island, in Cork, and Claremorris, Co Mayo, have already had more rain than in any previous full November. Records are expected to be broken at other stations before the month's end.

Last Thursday was the wettest day in many places, with Valentia Observatory, in Kerry, recording 57.4mm, Cork Airport recording 51.2mm and many other places receiving in excess of 30mm. "Taken alone, this was a very wet day by any standards but with the ground already saturated by heavy rain over the preceding days, the effect was made worse," the Met Office reported.

While today's rain is expected to exacerbate the situation in the south, Galway and Mayo should escape the worst of the downpours. It will be very windy, with heavy showers tonight and into tomorrow. The west is at risk of further rainfall on Sunday. "If it gets very stormy, it would lead to further disruption," Ms Blackburn said, adding that winds may reach gust speeds of up to 120kph. Unfortunately, there is no prospect of an area of high pressure bringing milder weather as the week progresses and the only consolation is that the rain systems are not expected to be as wet as the past days.
- Grainne Cunningham
Irish Independent