A section of roadway in Donegal washed away by record rainfall
By Irish Echo Staff
Even by West of Ireland standards this was a deluge, variously described as “biblical” and a “tsunami” from the sky.
And more rain was falling today.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar went to the Inishowen Peninsula in Donegal today to see at first hand the devastation caused by rainfall and flooding earlier in the week.
Speaking in Carndonagh, Mr. Varadkar said: "You have to see it to understand the scale of the damage that has been done.”
By some estimates as many as five hundred homes in Donegal have been damaged by flood waters in addition to sections of roadway and bridges that have been damaged or washed away.
Many parts of the northwest suffered severe flood damage in Tuesday night's “freak rainfall,” RTE reported.
An estimated four inches of rain fell in 24 hours.
Members of the Irish Army have been deployed in the most flood-ravaged areas.
Minister of State Joe McHugh, who is from Donegal, compared the flooding in the county to a tsunami.
“Tsunamis are associated with catastrophic sea surges but what happened in Donegal earlier this week was similar; it was a tsunami from the skies which dropped millions of tons of water directly into the heart of communities,” he said.
“Farmers in Inishowen and east Donegal have lost crops and animals and have seen the topographical nature of their lands changed forever through the sheer surge of the flood waters.
“I visited farmers in north Inishowen who cannot find their livestock. I also saw acre upon acre of potato and grain crops around St. Johnston washed away and destroyed. I have spoken to Agriculture Minister Michael Creed about the losses being faced and the assistance required.
Irish Farmers’ Association President Joe Healy said: “The farming community is reeling from the shock of what happened here on Tuesday. In some cases stock has been lost, and in other cases land and crops are submerged under water. Farm families have been cut off because of damage to roads and bridges,” Healy said.
Today’s rainfall will be concentrated in Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo.
The weather is set to improve somewhat Saturday, though with scattered showers.
Met Éireann, however, has warned that persistent rain will push into Atlantic coastal areas late Sunday night.
