Ireland Floods - Once-in-800 Years Event

Troops have been drafted in to support rescue workers. Irish villages and towns are drowning in a "once-in-800-years" flooding. And it's getting worse.


Click here for the most recent satellite picture. Animation here. (Note: these links are live, so it will change over time. Here's a snapshot:




800-year flood levels drown Irish villages and towns

November 21, 2009


Flood waters still rising across Ireland after days of storms

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Cities and villages in Ireland are waterlogged disaster areas this weekend after a "once-in-800-years" flooding

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Environment Minister John Gormley said was a "we have been told this is a once-in-800 years event."

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Emergency room access at Mercy Hospital was cut off after a nearby wall was toppled by the rising floodwaters.

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In Bantry, the town was cut off and callers to RTE radio appealed for help.

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The Irish weather service Met Eireann said the misery looks set to continue with more heavy rain and gales over the weekend.

AFP: Ireland battles severe flooding

Ireland battled floods on Saturday described as a "once in 800 years event", with the government rushing to provide shelter and drinking water and soldiers sent to assist those affected

"A once-in-800 years event" sounds pretty wild. No casualities so far. Let's hope there will be none.

NO good, Cork is a big city, water damage can be as bad as fire damage, not to mention the health hazard with a poluted water supply, as their pump is broken.

I hope Irish luck prevails and the rains stop.

reply to post by Hellmutt


Looks pretty bad.

If I can help by sheltering any red heads at my place I would be more than willing to lend a hand.

www.weather.com...

is it god's punishment for ireland because of accepting the lisbon treaty?

or merely bad luck that it occured shortly after it?

maybe it is just a coincidence.

reply to post by Hellmutt


Not to mention the UK.

Flood-stricken parts of the UK are bracing themselves for more rain after England's wettest day on record swamped homes and brought down bridges.
Forecasters predict Saturday will bring 15mm (0.5in) to 40mm (1.6in) of rain to Cumbria, where police said 75 people spent the night in emergency shelters.
There are 22 flood warnings in force across Scotland, northern England, the Midlands and Wales. Four are "severe".
Gordon Brown, who is in Cumbria, said the country was proud of the rescuers.

news.bbc.co.uk...

And believe it or Not, In Sydney, where we have had near some of the Hottest november days in 25 years.
Whilst south of NSW, in Victoria we have had deluges also after record heat waves too.
Bizarre.

Got lots of relatives in Ireland.

Well the UK flooding was described as 'flooding of biblical proportions' and a 'once in a 1000 year' event.

All I know watching the updates was it was simply staggering how much water fell in Cumbria. We're being hit by much more rain now and they are trying to work out where all the water is going to go.

Oh so British to talk about the weather but in this case I think it is justified.


link

hmmm, well it appears from where im sitting....in Ireland that its not as bad here as in the north of england. i mean, some small towns by rivvers were hit hard, but the uk got it much worse.

I was just thinking the other day that it's really odd that we never get any news from Ireland and sadly, i've just been proved wrong. That little spiral of cloud over Ireland looks kinda menacing.I'm not quite on the front line here, in the north east of Scotland, but even here it has been pretty bad, with very heavy rain, and high winds. God only knows how they're coping in the west of Scotland and Cumbria. My heart goes out to them.

It's such a scary thing too. I would rather drive through the worst snow, and I have many times, than drive through flood water. My car stalled in flood water here about three weeks ago, and until some kindly farmer came to tow me out, it was the scariest few minutes.

The problem isn't just the volume of rain that is falling at the moment, but the fact that this is a repeated event. We've been having these rainstorms for weeks and months now, and the ground is so saturated that it won't absorb any more. There is now flooding in places that have never flooded, so the people living there are even less prepared than those living in a known flood zone might be. I'm actually hoping it gets much colder, and it falls as snow, so at least when it melts, there is a longer period of run off, and we don't have more of these insane rain events.

[edit on 22-11-2009 by caitlinfae]

reply to post by caitlinfae


I am on the East coast of Scotland as well and I have never seen it this bad where I live ( a small village) people are saying in there 60 or more years of life in the village no one has ever been flooded. Now one house that I know of has been flooded twice.

As far as my knowladge goes though towns across the country where warned that building on natural flood plans was a bad idea.

reply to post by caitlinfae


Looking at the latest Satellite loop, that spiraling cloud, eye of the storm or whatever it is, is heading for Scotland

Thank you for that Hellmutt....it looks like that might pass over where we are on Monday night into Tuesday...that's when the heaviest rain is forecast for us, but we will be watching anyway. It's actually kinda lovely just now...very windy but the sun is out and for the moment no rain.....

The Met Office site mentions that some of the rain on higher ground over the next few days might be wintery, so maybe there is a chance of snow to slow things down a little. I hope so. I don't care if I get snowed in...I love it!


jpmail....good to meet you and stay safe where you are...I will keep you updated is there is any news in our direction. (out Deeside somewhere)

If you stumble upon proper picture galleries of this please post. These 'news' sites are a disgrace to photojournalism

Whats even more laughable is that "officials" are claiming these events to be as a result of Climate Change. Well if there "1 in a thousand year events" then how do we know this if recorded weather data only goes back some 70-odd years.

The recorded period of rainfall they claim to be the UK's highest rainfall Record was actually recorded over a 36 hour period aswell and not 24 hours as the MetOffice are claiming, as officially the 24 hour record would stand between 9am-9am, but the 270mm fell between both dates in question and not the same date.

So many facts and figures which are statistically wrong, yet arent being publically denounced by the MetOffice or Environment agency because they see this as a Publicity Campaign for their Climate Change rubbish.

The weather system in question has long since gone, the Jetstream responsible origionated out of the Azores and picked up warm moist air from the Atlantic which was enhanced by Orographic Lift by the Irish mountains and Cumbrian Fells, and as the Jetstream is like a trail of moist air it kept on feeding the moisture which in turn fell as rain until the lakes and rivers couldnt hold anymore.

Here's a brief video of the cumbria floods.

I live in a little village in Cumbria which has been cut off by the lake flooding on to the main road. It has gone down somewhat overnight but is only passable with high vehicles no good in a small car.

Still raining today but not as heavily. We have always had some floods in the past but not usually quite so much rain in such a short period.

A comibination of too much rain and not enough money spent on flood defences and the dredging of rivers and building up river banks.

Looks as if nearly every part of the world is experiencing unusual weather of one kind or another. However I don't think it is man made as the rest of the solar system is undergoing the same upheaval.

If you get some good photos I'd give a star to you
Also let's hope the historical sites don't get screwed. Those tend to be most vulnerable.

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink...


Longford, Ireland:

Argh! its so horrible, haven't ventured out in days! Im in carlow (ireland) and its the third time its flooded in the 4 years ive been here.

Originally posted by ROBL240
Whats even more laughable is that "officials" are claiming these events to be as a result of Climate Change. Well if there "1 in a thousand year events" then how do we know this if recorded weather data only goes back some 70-odd years.

Oh god, I knew someone would say this. A one off event doesnt equate to climate change. And you are right, 1 in a thousand is an assumption. we dont have enough data to prove it

I'm in Workington, Cumbria, the devastation is unreal, I live 2 minutes from the collapsed Northside bridge, i'm actually suprised I wasn't caught in the floods, being more or less right next to the river derwent. My heart goes out to the family of PC Bill Barker who lost his life on the bridge, poor fella.