Calls for flood-hit Cork coastal town to get early warning system

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

West Cork councillors have called for an early warning system to let the people of Bantry know in advance when flooding is expected. The town was hit again during the heavy rain last week with properties flooded and the fire service having to pump water off the streets.

At this week’s meeting of the Western Divisional Committee of Cork County Council, Cllr John Collins put forward a motion calling for Bantry to get an early warning and communication system for flooding similar to the one Bandon had before flood relief works were completed there.

Speaking about the Bandon system, Cllr Collins said it consisted of measurement sticks placed in the river in several locations that signalled by colour coding the rising height of the river during periods of heavy rain.

“It would alert people to the situation if it was getting worse. I spoke with two people that had businesses in the town in those days and they said to me that it was very, very helpful because at least you had some idea what was happening,” the Independent Ireland councillor said.

The motion was supported by Cllr Danny Collins who said, “last Tuesday morning week, when I walked the town, a number of businesses said to me, ‘Danny, we had no warning about it.’ People didn't know what was happening. I would hope we could look at a similar system for the businesses and residents of Bantry. I've been asked can we get this by businesses in town and by the Bantry Business Association.”

Cllr Caroline Cronin also supported the motion. “I know that there is a gauge on the mill wheel of the library, but I don't know who is actually getting alerted to it. So if the alert system could be rolled out to the businesses and the residents I think it would be fantastic. There could be 10, 12 more floods between this and the culvert [flood relief work] being done so something has to be done in the interim,” the Fine Gael councillor said.

Senior engineer with Cork County Council, Catherine Murphy, responded that the council’s operations teams already monitor tidal, river and rainfall gauges but developing an early flood warning system for Bantry would be “challenging due to the nature of the catchment, which is steeply sloping and prone to rapid onset of flooding. Bantry is also vulnerable to flooding from rainfall, coastal and river flooding.”

However, she said the council will engage with the OPW and Met Eireann to review the existing gauging infrastructure in Bantry and identify if additional stations would allow for the development of a meaningful flood warning system to predict flood events and issue timely alerts to residents.

The councillors were given an update on two flood relief schemes currently being progressed in Bantry. The main scheme, which has an estimated construction budget of €6.7m and will consist of walls, embankments and tidal flood defences, has now identified an emerging preferred option with a public participation day scheduled for December 10. Construction on the smaller Bantry Mill Culvert upgrade project is forecast to begin in the second quarter of 2027.