Rain warning as Storm Ciarán to 'brush' Ireland

A Status Yellow rain warning for parts of the south and southeast is in place this evening as Storm Ciarán is expected to brush past the south coast.

Met Éireann has warned of possible flooding in places as heavy rain falls on already saturated ground following the recent wet weather.

The Status Yellow rain warning has been issued for Cork, Waterford, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and Wicklow and is in effect until 7am tomorrow.

Met Éireann said: "Further rainfall associated with Storm Ciarán, combined with saturated ground conditions and high river levels, may lead to flooding."

Local authorities in the south east and south are on standby, but the storm is expected to pass south of the country without significant impact.

Between 10mm and 15mm of rainwater is expected to fall.

This, combined with saturated ground conditions, and high river levels may lead to flooding especially in counties under the warning.

Local authorities in these counties attended a virtual meeting of the National Emergency Coordination Group where they were briefed on the likely impact.

Ground crews are on standby to deal with any issues that may arise, such as localised flooding, blocked drains, and gulley overflows.

The Status Yellow rain warning has been described as precautionary, given current saturated ground levels.

In a statement, Kilkenny County Council said that while Storm Ciarán looks likely to pass south of the country without significant impact, people should travel with caution anticipating water on roads and footpaths. Sandbags will also be available at the usual locations.

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Cork City Council said it is not predicting widespread river or rain flooding across the city, or tidal flooding in the city centre.

However, the anticipated rainfall, combined with existing saturated ground conditions, may lead to some localised spot flooding across Cork this evening.

Cork County Council said the unsettled weather continues to have an impact on waterlogged soil and river levels across the county, with crews on standby in several known risk locations.

Crews are currently clearing inlets and gullies, with sandbags and pumping arrangements in place in known problem locations.

Heavy rain and possibly strong winds overnight will make driving conditions hazardous and the local authorities have appealed to motorists to slow down and drive with care.

While the Highest Astronomical Tide (HAT) is not expected to be exceeded, there could be surface water on roads because of run-off from already saturated ground.

Met Éireann warned of localised flooding, difficult travel conditions and poor visibility, while there could be wave overtopping in coastal areas.

Met Éireann meteorologist Linda Hughes said the country is "escaping the worst of the winds" and said rain would be the main impact of the storm.

Speaking to RTÉ's Drivetime, Ms Hughes said: "Parts of the south and southeast will see rain this evening, tonight, it will clear, then from the east tomorrow morning."

She said rain accumulations are not forecasted "to be particularly high", but because of flooding in the last few weeks, more rain means there could still be an impact.

Ms Hughes said it will be showery from tomorrow after Storm Ciarán passes and added there is "not any end in sight to the unsettled weather".

The stormy weather follows flooding in several parts of the country earlier this week, with homes and businesses in parts of Louth and Wexford among the worst hit.

Storm Ciarán will move up from the South later so there's a yellow rainfwall warning for counties of the South & Southeast ⚠️. Otherwise today, wet in northern areas, bright spells & scattered showers elsewhere.

Louise has an update #rteweather #StormCiarán pic.twitter.com/BNiRHhjRuw
— RTE Weather (@WeatherRTE) November 1, 2023

Five payments made under emergency flooding scheme

The Irish Red Cross has said it has, so far made five payments of €10,000 to applicants under the Government's Enhanced emergency flooding scheme, to applicants from Cork after last month's flooding.

Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Deirdre Garvey, Secretary General of the Irish Red Cross, said she is pleased with the speed her organisation is administering the Governments emergency flooding scheme.

"I'm very happy to say that we were able to produce a two-day turnaround time from the point of the complete application reaching us last Thursday before close of business, and we were able then in two working days to get that information validated, to get it processed with the respective local authority and then get the payment of €10,000 in this particular instance, there are two schemes this is the enhanced scheme."

She added that this scheme applied to businesses. She said the maximum limit is €100,000.

Ms Garvey said, in total, they have received 38 applications and enquiries.

"We stand ready, willing, and able, we have done this for ten years. We have proven ourselves in this capacity with Cork to have a really speedy turnaround time, and we are here to be of assistance to the state in this humanitarian need."

Carlingford clean-up under way

A clean-up operation is under way in Carlingford, Co Louth following severe flooding in parts of the village in recent days.

Business owners cleared away the water, silt and debris that swept through their properties.

Residents in two local estates that were inundated with water have been working around the clock to salvage what they can from their homes and clear drains.

Many access roads around the village on the Cooley peninsula are still flooded but passable.

This morning, Minister for Finance Michael McGrath visited some of the worst hit spots and described the damage as extensive.

He said the humanitarian assistance scheme for households is available immediately.

Mr McGrath said the Cabinet will meet formally in the next day or two to extend the Red Cross scheme for businesses, voluntary community and sporting clubs.

Flooding was reported in parts of Carlingford last night

Kevin Woods, the owner of Shalom B&B in Carlingford, said he has been pumping water out of B&B all night with three of his children.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said: "I have three children. They have been working there all night. We have been pumping water.

"We managed to get it out of the house from half seven yesterday morning. We were working on it all day but we got it out of the house or at least it's under the floor boards. It has disappeared and we have been pumping all day yesterday."

Speaking on the same programme, local Sinn Féin councillor Antóin Watters said rain overnight had not been as bad as Monday evening, but it "was still quite bad".

"There were still a lot of people up all night, especially around Carlingford."

Mr Watters said significant damage has been done to homes, businesses and vehicles.

"People haven't even started to try starting their cars, to see the full extent of the damage so we are really only at damage limitation at the minute.

"We haven't started the full clean-up effort yet."

Met Éireann forecaster Andrew Doran Sherlock said that since yesterday there has been 15-25mm of rainfall in some areas, so a flooding risk remains, even though Ireland will escape the worst of the storm.

Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, he said: "If we were dry in the lead up to this, we would maybe be looking at around the high ground areas in particular, but the risk is quite widespread throughout these areas because of what the situation is at present."

Meanwhile, flood waters in Newry, Co Down have receded a little overnight.

There had been fears that heavy overnight rain could exacerbate flooding that devastated dozens of businesses there yesterday.