‘Biblical’ downpour leaves seven Tipperary homes under water
CorkmanA “downpour of biblical proportions” led to the flooding of several Tipperary homes over the summer.
At the September meeting of Nenagh Municipal District, councillor Phyll Bugler raised concerns about flooding in Kilmastulla, near Birdhill, where seven homes were submerged in up to four feet of water.
Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Bugler said on the night of Tipperary’s All-Ireland hurling win on July 20, there were “major problems” in the area.
"We had major problems there with flooding, it’s really affected the houses. There’s seven houses involved, and I really think we need to write to Minister Moran and the OPW to see if there’s anything that can be done for the residents in the Kilmastulla area regarding the drainage issues there,” she said.
In response, a representative from Tipperary County Council’s roads section said that an unusually high amount of rainfall led to the houses in the area getting flooded on the night.
"There was a downpour of biblical proportions that’s never been seen by anybody in that area,” the roads engineer said.
"The consequence of that was that there were seven houses impacted, one house was flooded and two houses were very, very close to being flooded.
“I was there on the night and I have a report that I will submit to the OPW and that will record a flood event, but the tributary in question [that led to the flooding] is not part of the drainage district for the Kilmastulla and it’s not part of an OPW scheme, it falls outside council responsibility at this stage”.
Cllr Bugler said that the owner of the land that the stream that flooded the homes sits on also bears some responsibility, but due to rules enforced by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), the situation is in “limbo”.
“It’s part of a stream and the landowner, he’s also restricted in what he can do by Inland Fisheries, so we’re in this limbo area and I think we’ll all have to work together for this stretch of river that seems to be nobody’s responsibility,” Cllr Bugler said.
"The water was four feet high at around 11pm that night, this is a very serious situation. To say it’s not Council’s responsibility, it’s not the OPW’s responsibility, it might be the landowner’s responsibility, but he’s not allowed to touch the river. We all need to come together to see what can be done.
"These people have no flood insurance, they’re living from night to night waiting for the next flood to come, we as an authority can’t leave anyone in this situation,” Cllr Bugler said.
The engineers said that they would commit to writing a letter to OPW Minister Kevin ‘Boxer' Moran, to see if a solution to the flooding issues could be found.