AN ELDERLY brother and sister had to be rescued from their home in Co Clare yesterday morning after thunderstorms and torrential downpours left them standing knee-high in water in their kitchen.
Both in their late 80s, the two had to be lifted by firefighters from the house at Dromore, Ruan, after they became cut off by flood waters. Several areas of the county were badly affected by yesterday’s rain, while several roads remained impassable last night.
The two were carried through the flood waters to a neighbour’s house, where they were being looked after last night.
The incident was one of many Ennis fire service responded to yesterday following hours of torrential downpours. Roads over a wide area were closed after becoming impassable; however, some motorists still took chances and several had to be rescued. The worst affected places were around the village of Ruan, while the two main roads to north Clare were also severely affected.
The main N85 Ennis to Lahinch road was closed for several hours at Kilnamona with gardaí diverting traffic through Corofin. Motorists, however, found themselves in a worse situation when they encountered more serious flooding on the diversion route – a river at Kilcorrish burst its banks and flowed down the road through Caherbanna on to the Ennis to Corofin road.
Flooding was also reported on the N18 between Crusheen village and Ballyline, while serious problems were encountered on the Corofin to Gort road around Tubber; on the Ennis to Lissycasey road at the Boree Log pub; and in Connolly village.
Gardaí last night warned people to obey warning signs and not to take chances in flood waters.
Motorists throughout the northwest were also urged to beware of flooding as heavy rains and driving winds battered the region.
Warning signs were erected across Donegal, and for a while there were fears that parts of Gweedore faced a repeat threat of the devastation caused to the village of Derrybeg by flash floods in June.