Issued : Sunday 16 January, 2011

Last night (15/01/2011) Bandon recorded a serious flood event. Hundreds of townspeople witnessed the river rise rapidly throughout the early hours of the morning. The Bandon River rose two metres throughout the course of the day. Water levels peeked at 2.99 metres at 1.45am. This dangerous level finally began to subside at 3am.

Residents of Bridge Street and Brady’s Lane, historically the first to suffer from flood events, watched on while water became backed up in the drains and flowed onto the street. Only a small number of premises were affected and the fire brigade acted fast to alleviate further damage.

Speaking after the event Cllr. Gearóid Buckley paid tribute to the emergency services who acted so fast last night. He said, ‘The Fire Brigade wasted no time to limit the damage of last night’s high water levels. They strategically pumped water from the Bridewell River and Bridge Street back into the main Bandon River.

‘For many people the night resembled that of November 19th 2009 (Bandon’s worst flooding on record). There was an air of déjà vu as townspeople looked on in dismay.

‘The Early Warning System was of great assistance as it highlighted potential flooding as early as yesterday morning. Text messages were sent out to those who registered to be informed of this. However, prevention is better than watching on in fear.  It is now critical that Bandon’s €9.6 million flood scheme and main drainage scheme is implemented without delay.’

ENDS

See flood gauge from www.bandonfloodwarning.ie