A platoon of 30 soldiers will arrive in Inishowen, Co Donegal tomorrow to help with the clean-up operation following recent heavy flooding.
The Minister of State with responsibility for Defence Paul Keogh has agreed to deploy members of the defence forces to the area to help clean up public and private properties.
It is estimated around 200 homes have been affected by flood waters. Six main bridges and many smaller ones as well as numerous stretches of road have also suffered damage and there are detours in operation.
The soldiers will meet Donegal County Council officials in the morning to assess the situation and decide where they will be sent.
It is also understood that more soldiers will be sent if needed.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Earlier, the Department of Social Protection said that emergency income support payments have been made to some of those affected by flooding in Co Donegal under the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme.
As of 4pm, 36 families and individuals had attended the Buncrana Intreo (Social Welfare) office and had received the payments to cover immediate costs including food, clothing and personal items.
A department spokesperson said the emergency income support payments are the first stage of the approach to administering payments under the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme.
The second stage involves the replacement of white goods, furniture and other essential household items.
The spokesperson said these payments cannot be made until flood water abates and houses dry out and the full extent of damage is known.
The department says the third stage of the process is to identify longer-term financial support or works required.
It says it could take some time before this can start, and it will involve a cross departmental/agency response.
Fresh rainfall warning issued for Donegal
Meanwhile, Met Éireann has issued a fresh rainfall warning for Co Donegal.
The status yellow warning cautions that further spells of heavy rain are expected to affect the northwest of the country through today and tomorrow, with the potential for 25-40mm to accumulate in 24 hours in Co Donegal.
A status yellow warning is also in place for counties Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo, through the rest of tonight and tomorrow, with totals of 25mm of rain expected generally, but with the potential for 35mm on higher ground.
This evening Donegal County Council said: "We continue to ask that everyone travelling on the roads in North Donegal takes due care".
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he has been briefed by officials on the damage caused by the flooding.
Outlining the Government's response to the situation in Donegal, Mr Varadkar said an inter-agency meeting would be held tomorrow to coordinate a national response to the flooding and damage.
Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty earlier said the priority in the response to flooding in the northwest is to provide immediate accommodation to people who have been forced from their homes and to provide them with clean clothes.
Ms Doherty also said a number of roads and bridges needed to be repaired.
Speaking on RTÉ's News At One, Ms Doherty said a limit has not been set on the amount her department will be spending in response to the flash flooding.
She said: "There is going to be a short-to medium-term plan needed to put these people back in their homes. And it's not going to happen today or tomorrow, given the level of the damage, and also the structural damage to our roads and bridges ...
"Obviously, we are going to have to sit down and work out how and where and when, and probably ultimately where the finances will come from, but they need to be brought to play."
Cars were washed away in places when the violent thunderstorms struck on Tuesday night.
Yesterday, several people had a lucky escape when a main road in the village of Drumahoe, outside Derry, collapsed.
A number of people were walking on the road when a section crumbled into flood water.
The Minister of State with responsibility for flooding, Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, is also visiting some of the worst-hit locations.
Criticisms have emerged over a housing estate in Burnfoot being turned down for flood-defence funding.
Mr Moran said it did not meet a cost-benefit analysis at the time.
Donegal County Council is assessing the scale and cost of the repair work but the bill is expected to run into millions.
The council's senior engineer said it is too early to put a figure on the cost of the damage caused.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Brendan O'Donnell said they are still getting their heads around the scale of the damage and have quite a job to do.
He said the council is still getting reports from around north Donegal about secondary routes, some of which are impassable and others where bridges have collapsed.
"For ourselves we are still counting the costs and trying to get an inventory of the scale of the damage. That will take some time", he said.
Mr O'Donnell said in the past where they have faced significant weather events, they have found Government to be supportive and not left wanting when it comes to funding.
We will be working with the Department of Transport and indeed other departments to just clarify how much funding is needed and to work through about getting that released
Fianna Fáil TD Eugene Murphy said the Government needs to come up with a new approach to deal with extreme weather conditions.
"The scenes of utter devastation witnessed [on Tuesday] night cannot be repeated.
"Roads and bridges have been swept away rendering some areas inaccessible, there were reports of people unable to make it home, while others were stranded in isolated areas.
"There needs to be a more coordinated strategy in place involving the local authorities and the civil defence to manage these situations when they arise," said Mr Murphy.
