COUNTRYWIDE DELUGE:THE GREATER Dublin area may have received the worst of recent heavy rains but several other areas around the country were also coping with the aftermath of floods yesterday.
In Co Tyrone, boats were used to rescue 18 people, including two children, after a river burst its banks in Beragh on Monday. The new £1 million (€1.15 million) GAA centre there was flood-damaged.
Several rivers burst their banks and many roads were made impassable due to floods in different parts of Northern Ireland. There were reports of serious flooding in areas such as Strabane, Omagh and Newry.
SDLP Minister for the Environment Alex Attwood promised to try to help homeowners whose properties were flooded. He said he was making emergency funds available to local councils to assist with the clear-up.
Rail services in the North were affected, with the Dublin-Belfast Enterprise service between Newry and Belfast not running.
In the Border town of Ballybay, Co Monaghan, gardaí evacuated a number of houses when flooding caused masonry near gas storage tanks to collapse, leading to fears of a gas leak or explosion.
AA Roadwatch reported that a number of roads around Monaghan were closed, adding Monaghan town centre was impassable. Elsewhere in the county, the Blackwater river burst its banks at Piper’s Bridge. Roads in Carlow, Kilkenny, Cavan and Louth were also listed as impassable.
In Wicklow, where Garda Ciarán Jones died when he was swept away by floodwater on Monday night, the Sally Gap and Wicklow Gap were listed as “passable with absolute caution”. The road between Ballyknocken and Valleymount was closed due to a collapsed bridge.
In Co Kerry the Slea Head Road was scheduled to reopen today after being closed due to flooding.