Liam Kehoe, his new home near Claregalway, County Galway flooded in the background, does his best to cope with the unprecedented floodwaters. Photo courtesy Irish Independent.

Ireland, drowning in red ink, facing strikes and a budget to beat them all in a few days, has been tormented by an old familiar: rain.

But rain in amounts that even the hard bitten inhabitants of the island are unfamiliar with. One woman who spoke to the Echo on Tuesday described the situation in Cork City succinctly.

"Washington Street is a river," she said.

In the face of the crisis, Taoiseach Brian Cowen has confirmed that the government will respond to the ongoing flooding crisis in cases here where humanitarian aid is required. Cowen, who visited parts of the waterlogged South and West of Ireland on Monday, indicated that ministers would be discussing how to help those most severely affected.

A crisis summit of the government's Emergency Task Force was told at the weekend as hundreds of people were left homeless with tens of thousands of acres under water. 50,000 people in Cork City were without drinking water, businesses went bankrupt, and farmers were facing a feed crisis that will last months.

And flood alerts remain in place this week following overnight rain on Monday with further rainfall forecast. The flood repair bill, at this juncture, could exceed €300 million, this at a time when the economy is facing into severe fiscal restraint and a Dec. 9 budget intended to fill a huge gap in public finances.

Cork was one of the counties worst hit by the flooding following a week of relentless, torrential rain. Last Thursday, the north channel of the River Lee burst through the quay wall at Grenville Place, flooding the ground floor of the Mercy University Hospital following.

Patients and staff had to be evacuated to higher floors in the hospital, with the new emergency department forced to close and staff having to be ferried into work in dinghies by soldiers from Collins Barracks, who also sandbagged the quay wall to prevent breaches.

The heavy flooding forced the closure of Cork County Hall. About 20 guests had to be evacuated from the nearby Kingsley Hotel. The basement of the new Western Gateway at University College Cork was also flooded, as was the basement of the award-winning Glucksman Gallery where frantic efforts were being carried out at the beginning of the week to evacuate valuable works of arts.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from homes and businesses in Ballinasloe, County Galway while flooding affected other parts of the county as well as Clare, Limerick and counties bordering the surging River Shannon.

In Tipperary, Clonmel's famous greyhound track was completely submerged and resembled a tropical lagoon.

Ennis town center in County Clare was practically deserted on Friday afternoon as mechanical pumps worked hard to prevent further damage caused by the river Fergus bursting its banks.

Up to 120 guests at one of Killarney's oldest hotels, the Lake Hotel on the shores of Lough Lein, had to be evacuated and the hotel was closed down after water rose several feet.

Foreign affairs minister, Micheal Martin stressed that the flood crisis required "all hands on deck."

High winds from storms that have been lining up in the North Atlantic may have claimed a fatality when the body of a man in his 30s washed up on the beach at Ballyheighue, County Kerry on Saturday. He is believed to be a windsurfer who had been reported missing that afternoon.

The Midwest, meanwhile, was this week bracing itself for further flooding as the River Shannon continues to rise under leaden skies.