56 floods recorded in North Meath during deluge

Meath County Council outdoors staff and other emergency services dealt with 56 scenes of serious flooding in north Meath during the very heavy rainfall of 16th August. Staff also had to cope with the consequences throughout the following day, area engineer Shane Carroll told a meeting of Kells area councillors this week. Incidents included floods at Moynalty, Kilmainhamwood, Kilfannon, Carrickspringan, Cormeen, Drumconrath, Arrigal, Cregg, Summerhill Upper, Loughbracken, Aclare, Julianstown, Boynabough, Pottlereagh, Pottlebane, Clonsillagh, Boltown, Kilskeer (including the Clonmellon Road), Mullingar Road (Kells), Spierelane, Fyanstown, Oristown, Gibbstown, Clongill, Staholmog church, Coille Dios, Park View, Cloran Foad, Fosterfields (Athboy), Cortown church, Fordstown, Phoenixtown, Allenstown, Balrathboyne, Gillstown Little, Summerbank Lane, Oldcastle church, Millbrook, Punchamone, Moate, Martinstown, Patrickstown, Ballinvalley, Stoney Road and the Crossakiel-Diamor road. Rainfall on that day was nearly three times the average monthly fall and came on top of June and July levels which were already over twice the average, Mr Carroll told councillors. Gullies became quickly blocked and both the Moynalty and Athboy water supplies had to be shut down as wellheads were compromised. The supplies got the all-clear four days later, during which time the council provided water tankers. Cllr Bryan Reilly led tributes to the council"s outdoor staff, engineers and other emergency service personnel for their non-stop work throughout that weekend. He asked whether the Office of Public Works (OPW) could not be pressed to undertake more maintenance on river channels, but Mr Carroll said the OPW responsibility was mainly on the Dee tributaries and the 16th August rainfall was as flash flood, which he described as a 30-year event. Thousands of acres were flooded around Drumconrath, said Cllr Michael Gallagher. Such flooding seemed to happen more often, he remarked, and he also called for more OPW action as lands were still flooded around the village. Cllr John Farrelly praised the fact that no flooding occurred around Dunboyne, thanks to the flood relief works carried out by the council, OPW and Fingal County Council on the Tolka River. However, he said the council simply did not have the staff to clean manholes as more floods were coming as the climate changed. Cllr Michael Lynch commended the Oldcastle staff and local fire brigade for their work at Summerbank Lane for over 13 hours, dealing with vast floods threatening nearby houses. A single plastic bag had backed up the drain near Oldcastle Church which very nearly resulted in flooding nearby old people"s homes, he said, while the sandbagging work in Dromone continued until 2am. More discretionary spending was needed for such emergencies, he declared. Cllr Liz McCormack praised the Athboy resident who channeled away the flooding at the Fair Green on16th August but called for more regular clearning, especially on the Cloran Road. There had not been three dry days since area manager Brendan McGrath mentioned a hosepipe ban two years ago, said Cllr Brian Collins. However, the 16th August was exceptional. Mr McGrath said staff had worked in inhuman conditions, as lands were 'utterly saturated' even before the downpour that day. He calculated the rianfall as a '200-year event'.