More than 25 homes were flooded in Passage East at the weekend despite repeated warnings to the local authority – it has been claimed.
Independent Councillor Declan Barry described the situation in Passage East as “an accident waiting to happen”.
Many parts of the county were impacted by flooding after Storm Chandra hitting Waterford on Tuesday, 27 January, last. This was further compounded with torrential rain at the weekend and there is more rain expected for the coming week.
Much of the flooding that took place was unavoidable as the land was simply over-saturated, even before Storm Chandra hit last week.
However, this was not the case for the village of Passage East, where a local resident with knowledge of the area sought help from the Council a week before the damage occurred.
Despite this issue being raised before, the resident had taken it upon himself to clear the grate which services the brook in Passage East. The brook sits between the two hills at the rear of the village, a significant amount of run-off water gathers here and would usually drain through a grate.
With the unprecedented rainfall in recent weeks, the resident’s efforts were no longer sufficient to clear the grate and stem the rising water. The resident contacted his local representative, Independent Councillor Declan Barry, to try and raise the issue with the Council before the brook overflowed.
Speaking to The Munster Express, Cllr. Barry, explained that he attended Passage East with an engineer from the Roads Department on Monday, 26 January.
Cllr. Barry, the resident and the engineer attended the site to examine the issue, where a “torrent” of water was flowing down the hillside.
Despite this early warning, the brook did indeed overflow a week later, damaging upwards of 25 homes, there were reports of an 86-year-old resident who stayed up through the night trying to empty the floodwater from her home, but was ultimately unsuccessful.
“This was an accident waiting to happen,” said Cllr. Barry. “At 5.30 pm, Friday evening, the same resident contacted me and said the brook is overflowing.
“At 5.45 pm I contacted the Roads Department, who told me they had the situation in-hand.”
It is understood that the residents had contacted the Council’s weekend relief service to get emergency help around 6.00 pm. According to residents, the flooding in Dobbyn Street is believed to have started at 12.30 am that night.
Sources suggest that a team of Council workers were deployed, and a supply of between 10 and 20 sandbags were delivered. The shortage of sandbags may have been caused by similar issues elsewhere in the county.
With significant damage and distress caused to the residents of Passage East, questions remain over the council’s response.
Praise for council workers
However, Cllr. Barry emphasised that the local council workers in the area, and the fire brigade could not have done more to help, and should be acknowledged for their stellar work through the night. It is however notable that more than 25 homes seem to have been damaged due to an emergency issue that was raised a week before it happened.
“Too little too late”
“They were closing the stable door after the horse had bolted,” said Cllr. Barry. “It was too little too late. I say if we have 1,000 sandbags for the county and it’s not enough then we should get 2,000.”
In recent weeks the poor water pressure in Passage East have led Uisce Éireann to place a water tanker in the village for public use, although the water from the tanker comes with a boil water notice. Such ongoing complaints lead rural residents to feel they do not receive the same level of support from their council.
“If this happened in the Dunmore Road, or Williamstown, or Hillview, just to give some examples,” said Cllr. Barry, “these other areas just would not put up with it. Passage East and places like it just do not get the same level of service.
“It was a disaster area, and they had a week’s warning but there was no action taken.”
AARON KENT
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
