Mudslides, rockfalls and flash flooding occurred in Cos Dublin and Wicklow yesterday after heavy rainfall brought already high water tables to bursting point.
Part of Howth Head collapsed on to Balscadden Road last night with six feet of rock and mud blocking cars. Rain is believed to have loosened the cliff face. Fingal County Council engineers cleared the debris last night.
Howth gardaí closed the Dublin Road yesterday after several cars got stranded in a long flooded stretch. The road was confirmed passable again yesterday evening after Dublin Fire Brigade pumped away the floodwater.
The owners of the Bloody Stream pub in Howth, recovering from flood damage just two weeks ago, took matters into their own hands with some pumps they bought after the last flooding.
"Our beer garden is flooded because of an underground stream that runs underneath us down to the sea," a spokesman said. "We're pumping the water down to the sea ourselves this time," he added. Dublin Fire Brigade attended the scene but left once the situation was under control.
Dublin city centre escaped serious damage, with some slight flooding in Beechwood Road and Dunville Avenue in Rathmines, according to a Dublin City Council source. Traffic was held up by flooding on the coast road to Dun Laoghaire, near Monkstown.
A rockfall on the DART line between Greystones and Bray led to the closure of the line at lunchtime yesterday. An Iarnród Eireann spokesman confirmed that the line was reopened after 1½ hours.
Flooding at Glenageary station caused 10-minute delays. Coastal and embankment protection work is being continuously carried out on the DART line, according to the spokesman.
Several roads in south Dublin and along the Dublin-Wicklow border were closed for most of yesterday, according to AA Roadwatch.
A mudslide on the Wyckham Bypass linking Dundrum and Sandyford with the Ballinteer entrance to the M50 reduced traffic to one lane only.
The AA was advising motorists not to plough through floods if they were unsure of the depth of the water.
"The worst-affected areas are near Bray, Greystones and Enniskerry, where extensive roadworks and debris caused many roads to become flooded," said an AA spokesman.
In Wicklow the county council and Civil Defence worked all day directing floods on roads into nearby fields. Several houses were reported to have been flooded in Season Park and Redford Park in Greystones, but no families had to be evacuated.
"All crews were deployed to prevent and reduce floods," said a Wicklow County Council source.
Last night many homes and business premises in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, were under threat from flooding when the Slaney river burst its banks in two places. Gardaí confirmed that the car-park of the Riverside Park Hotel was flooded.
The promenade was also reported to be under water. Enniscorthy Fire Brigade was monitoring the situation last night.