The river Slaney was calm on Thursday morning, a very different picture from January when it burst its banks during Storm Chandra, flooding the Co Wexford town of Enniscorthy it flows through.
Locals are used to this river flooding, but it has worsened in recent years as climate change makes extreme weather more common.
This week the Climate Change Advisory Council expressed extreme concern that 30 of 54 major flood protection schemes remained at preliminary design stage, with big schemes taking an average of 11 years to complete.
The council – an independent body that advises the Government on policy regarding climate change – highlighted Enniscorthy as it was still waiting for construction of flood defences to start 11 years after preparations began.
READ MORE
Damage ran into hundreds of thousands of euro in the town in January as businesses were submerged with water and mud along the Shannon and Abbey Quays.
Nearly nine months on, business owners are still haunted by memories of Storm Chandra and fear further flooding and extreme weather this winter.
The Bus Stop Shop is well known to Enniscorthy locals. It has been open for more than 30 years.
The bakery, delicatessen, grocery and coffee shop is run by husband and wife Ralph and Anne Swaine.
In the corner of the shop there’s a photograph of the couple alongside staff and then president Michael D Higgins, captioned: “President Higgins called in to see us opening back up as normal after the recent floods (January 2016).”
This snapshot in time shows just how long locals and business owners in Enniscorthy have been dealing with flooding from the Slaney.
Anne says it was the town’s “fourth massive flood”.
“Maybe it’s being older, but it definitely had more of an effect on myself and my husband,” she says.
“Would we have walked away from it? Yeah ... we did think about that. We decided in the end: ‘Look, we can’t let the weather drive us away after all those years’.
“We have a lot of loyal customers and people have been very good to us; even after the flooding we had so many people come in to help us.”
She estimates that the flooding caused about €170,000 worth of damage to the shop after the storm. Initial support of €20,000 offered to businesses was “an insult”, she says.
[ Storm Chandra floods made three times more likely by climate changeOpens in new window ]
The sum for businesses who could not secure flood insurance was increased to €100,000 and she praises Minister for Housing James Browne, who is a local TD, for engagement on this.
She says there has been some action on interim measures to protect houses on Island Road, which runs alongside the river, but she feels there has been a lack of communication with locals and business owners.
Enniscorthy’s flood relief scheme is still incomplete despite three decades of serious flooding, with planning applications and environmental reports ongoing.
For Anne and others, the fear is that a repeat of Storm Chandra could arrive without any additional support, something the Climate Change Advisory Council makes clear.
She also feels that the Government should intervene to apply pressure to insurance companies for homes and businesses in areas such as Enniscorthy’s riverside.
Another well-known local business is Temple Barbers, run by Zara Chunli Zhang, who is originally from China and has lived in Wexford since 2010.
“I was depressed after it,” she says, looking back on Storm Chandra.
“The water got all the way up to here,” she adds, pointing halfway up the door of her shop.
She worries the absence of flood defences will lead to similar events and worries about being unable to continue paying rent for her business if she suffers financial losses again.
“We got no help ... This is all I have to stop it,” she says, pointing to sandbags in her back room.
Nearby is Brennan’s Pub in the Templeshannon area. Situated in a bend on the Slaney, it was badly affected by the January flooding.
The premises bears little sign of flood damage. Husband and wife Peter and Bernie Brennan have refurbished the bar since Chandra. Peter’s 82-year-old mother, Bernie, helps out with the running of the bar, turning up to work every day.
“The water was up to our knees, and in the back area it was over our waist,” Peter says.
“We’re still kind of repairing stuff ... We were lucky, in a way, because we have a concrete floor so we could jet wash everything.”
[ Ireland needs a better strategy than ‘hope’ when it comes to flood preventionOpens in new window ]
The couple also worry about another storm in the near future.
“We understand it will take time, but what’s the short-term plan?” Bernie asks.
“The stress of going through this again next week or next year ... I just don’t know what we’d do.
“When the clean-up was finished, I just thought: What if it happens again next week? In that scenario, I don’t think I’d be physically or mentally able for it ... It does affect you.”
Peter is also a brewer but has put his plans to build a brewery next to his pub – a dream of his – on hold due to the uncertainty about flooding.
“We’re in limbo with the brewery,” he says. “If I do it and spend all that money ... then we get flooded next week, how do you come back from that?”
