For the second time in six days residents and business owners of Blackpool in Cork city are battling with flood waters.
Heavy rains across the Ireland have resulted in flooding and some of the worst affected areas are in Cork, particularly Blackpool in Cork, which has experienced flooding twice in a week.
Flooding on this scale is rare in Blackpool with one woman saying,
I’ve lived in Blackpool all my life and the last time it was flooded like this was in 1952.
Stephen Geary, the manager of Blackpool Credit Union has been forced to the upper part of the building as downstairs is under six inches of water. Similarly, Veronica Fitzgerald is trapped upstairs in the Berhaven Bar as downstairs lies under four foot of water.
Jerry Ahern of T & A Building Supplies Ltd has been flooded out twice and says,
There is something radically wrong.
Nobody can understand where the flooding is coming from, but the cost of the damage to Blackpool alone will run to millions of euro.
As a result of the increasing frequency of flooding a review of national policy has been announced by Minister of State Tom Parlon. The review will assess the extent of the problem countrywide and recommend practical action to deal with flooding.
The government will extend the humanitarian aid scheme to help the flooding victims in Cork, but this will only to alleviate hardship and will not be a compensation package.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 27 November 2002. The reporter is Paschal Sheehy.
