Incantations about the weather come naturally to the Irish. Those in snowy climes may have their scores of words for snow, but it's rain we're versed in, and the gradations of its quantities. Phrases like "it's drizzling/spitting/spilling/teeming/pouring/lashing/ and bucketing" are learned virtually in the cradle, and each one corresponds to a particular volume of falling water.
However, while our vocabulary has a wide range of words to cover every amount of the wet stuff, it would appear that the infrastructure of our country does not have a corresponding range of methods to deal with problems caused by severe weather.
This week, Met Eireann reported 93mm (almost four inches) of rain during 18 hours spanning Sunday night and Monday morning at Baldonnel in Dublin. For the same period, Rosslare reported 63mm, Cork airport 52mm, Roches Point 43mm, and Kilkenny 40mm. These figures are the worst since Hurricane Charlie in 1986: Baldonnel alone had twice the amount of rain than in 1986.
Severe weather is often described as an act of God, which, in terms of resulting aftermath, can be a convenient let-out clause. After all, has God ever appeared personally in Ireland to accept responsibility for the weather patterns which are described as in his name? Notwithstanding the damage we are doing to the ozone layer, we have little control over what falls out of the sky. But we do have a responsibility to prepare ourselves for such events, and to put preventative measures in place for those times when the buckets of rain seem bottomless.
When the rain fell this week, the litany of flooded towns increased by the hour: Clonmel, Arklow, Enniscorthy, Clonee, Dunboyne, Fermoy and Mallow being among the worst affected. The weather hit, as it does, at random. Areas long-used to flooding, such as the Shannon Basin, were this time relatively unaffected. There is something sad but true about the fact that we have become used to seeing pictures of farms in the midlands under water. Familiarity, while it doesn't always breed the traditional contempt, can breed tolerance, which is equally damning by way of a response.
So what action is taken by the authorities in these circumstances? "There is a county emergency plan, which is implemented at different levels," says Sean Quirke, town clerk for Arklow Urban District Council. "Any situation which threatens life or property constitutes an emergency." This week the council called out several bodies, each of which had a specific role. The Gardai was on traffic safety duty; the fire-brigade pumped water and rescued stranded people; the Eastern Health Board provided bedding and facilitated alternative housing arrangements; the council and Civil Defence filled sandbags and tried to assess the situation on an ongoing basis.
Aside from responding to emergency situations, there are long-term measures that can be taken in advance to protect properties. In January 1999, for instance, there was a £2.6 million flood plan proposal for Carrick-on-Suir. The money was allocated, but, two years on, no work has started on the plan. Why? "There was local objection to the plan, and it had to go back to the OPW," says Patsy Murphy, chairman of Carrick-on-Suir Urban District Council. After objections from the local Chamber of Commerce and environmental activists were taken on board, the plan was eventually put out to tender, but negotiations with the contractor then collapsed, and the job is now out to tender for a second time.
Last year, £10 million was set aside by the State for local authorities, specifically for flood defence. This week, Martin Cullen, the Minister with special responsibility for the OPW, said that delays were arising because of the consultation process. "People have to strike a balance as to what they will allow into their areas for protection and the panoramic views that might be impinged upon."
Carrick-on-Suir's is not the only flood plan which has been held up by local objections. For example, a steering committee was set up at the beginning of the year to examine problems in south Galway, where hundreds of acres of farmland now lie under water. The area has been allocated £2.5 million for five schemes to alleviate the worst effects, and this week, the Irish Farmers' Association warned that any delay in implementing the plans would result in crisis.
The emergency procedures taken in Arklow would be fairly standard measures across the country - routine procedures in towns long-affected by flooding, such as Clonmel, which have rivers running alongside the town centre and which are geographically prone to flood danger. Some people must have looked at the flood damage media pictures of Clonmel this week, and wondered aloud why people still live in areas when they know they are likely to be flooded. But that's like asking why people choose to live in San Francisco, along the fault-line of the San Andreas. People adapt to situations, and home is home, be it ever so potentially vulnerable.
HOWEVER, floating among the debris of the streets this week was the flotsam and jetsam of some new issues which are not likely to be easily cleared up in the coming weeks or months. There is one significant difference between residents' houses which were flooded in places such as Clonmel, and those flooded in towns across Dublin, Meath and Kildare. Many of the pictures which made the front pages, such as those showing sisters Fiona and Lorraine McGovern knee-deep in their Beechdale Estate kitchen in Dunboyne, were in newly-built housing estates.
As Frank McDonald, environment editor of this newspaper, has pointed out, the very fact that there is so much new building means there is less surface drainage in these areas. He raised the question of whether risks from potential flooding had been properly assessed when housing estates were going through the planning process. In the current frenzy to build as many new houses as possible, people must be now left wondering if corners are being cut in the planning process.
It was pointed out in the Dail this week by Fine Gael leader, John Bruton, that on the same day Dunboyne was flooded, the local council had agreed to rezone 170 acres for housing. Should there be a policy taken about building properties near areas prone to flooding, or should people decide for themselves if they want to buy anyway and take the risk? Whose responsibility is it?
It's not only new houses that have been flooded - there were reports of new roads such as the N4 at Maynooth being under water, while the old road nearby remained dry. This was repeated elsewhere. Old roads in this country are assumed to be inferior roads - but what's better about the new ones if they flood and the old ones don't? None of it seems to make sense. What kind of message is it sending out to those living in those expensive, hard-won new houses and travelling on those expensive new roads?
There is an additional potential problem for residents of new estates. Once an area begins to suffer flood damage, some insurance companies, may not cover that risk in future policies. This is true for repeated high-risk flood areas, such as Clonmel. And the monetary cost of flood damage, aside from the trauma suffered, can be considerable.
The last big storms in Ireland were over Christmas 1998, with wind being the main factor. According to the Irish Insurance Federation (IIF), some £50 million pounds was paid out in storm damage for that period, between household and commercial property claims. It is too early to assess what the figures will this time round, but the IIF has said the amounts claimed are likely to be much higher because flooding causes more damage.
On Tuesday, Bobby Molloy, Minister of State for the Environment, said the Government would next week announce details of a relief package. He would not be drawn into speculation about it, but said it would be "generous", and allocated on discussion with local authorities and the OPW. People whose homes have been damaged and who had no insurance can hope to benefit from the package.
This week, there were hundreds of unreported stories of hardships, each of them probably defined as small in the wider scale of things, but heart-breaking for those affected. Like the elderly couple in Wicklow who had to be rescued in floods from their wooden house, for which they could not get insurance. They are now in hospital and their home is ruined.
There were untold numbers of small devastations for people all round the country. In an economic and social climate which has lately put such a spotlight on home-owning, it must have been a bitter experience for people to wake up and see their books and sofas and tables floating across now-destroyed rooms that had been painted with such pride. Money alone cannot refurbish a home which has been put together with hard work, love and care.
There was massive damage to property and losses to business and industry; but the real tragedy is that at least two people died this week because of the floods. We can at least be grateful that there was not a greater loss of life. But long after the water has receded, there will be people struggling to get their lives and homes back in order; people, who, this time last week, had no idea of what was in store for them.