‘The internet router floated past me’
An East Cork resident whose estate was devastated by flooding during Storm Babet, has described being rescued by his neighbour on a broken-down jet ski.
Recalling the terrifying events of 18 October, Christian Kyriacou, who is a resident of the Gleann Fia estate in Mogeely said it had started out like any other day.
“I dropped the kids off to school. There was a little bit of surface water when I came back. It was the only day I had off that week and I said, 'Do you know what, I'm going to watch something on TV',” he told the Cork Independent.
When rain water began to gather at the centre of the estate, Mr Kyriacou and his wife began to block up their doors but within 30 minutes, their home, and 30 of the 32 homes in the estate, we inundated with muddy water. They called the emergency services numerous times but were told that nearby Midleton was being prioritised. “I was fighting water at the back door and my wife was fighting at the front door. Eventually we knew we couldn't do anything,” said Mr Kyriacou.
He added: “I said to my wife, ‘We need to get out’. I had to fight to the front door because the floor was after lifting in the hallway and our wardrobes downstairs were kind of floating. The router for the internet floated past me.”
As Mr Kyriacou and his wife attempted to flee their home, a neighbour spotted them struggling and offered his assistance.
Mr Kyriacou continued: “My neighbour shouted at me, he had waders on; he said, ‘I have a broken-down jet ski here, I can tow you to the front of the estate’. And he did, he towed us to the front of the estate where another neighbour was waiting with a tractor to bring us to our children.”
Now, three months on from Storm Babet, Mr Kyriacou said he and his neighbours are still dealing with the aftermath.
He said they have been left feeling abandoned by the Government.
“Though we are included in tranche 2 of the flood plan, this will take between 10 to 15 years to enact,” he said.
“We have been contacting everyone from Coillte to the OPW to councillors and TDs, trying to get something done here.
“Some people are in a very bad state and some people have been told that their foundations could be compromised.
“All of the houses still have builders coming. We’ve run out of funds, it’s as simple as that, and they’re holding money on the humanitarian aid and telling us we can’t get the rest of it until the house is complete and inspections have been done, but we can’t afford to complete it,” added Mr Kyriacou.
He also said there have been two close calls since last October and that residents of the estate are living in constant fear of another devastating flood.
Mr Kyriacou continued: “We need the OPW, Coillte, the Fisheries Board, the council, and the Government to get moving on an emergency plan to be enacted now. We can’t wait 10 to 15 years. There’s not going to be a community here in even a year or two if this happens again.”
Flood relief gates
At Monday’s meeting of Cork County Council, the executive agreed to write to Minister for the Environment, Climate, Communications and Transport, Eamonn Ryan, asking for flood relief gates to be added to a grant application scheme to help people in flood prone areas to protect their homes.
Social Democrats Cllr Liam Quaide said: “Individual Property Protection (IPP) through such measures as flood-gates/barriers needs to be pursued as a matter of urgency for at-risk properties in East Cork, and indeed for other parts of the county.
“Residents and business-owners moving back into premises after spending many ten of thousands of euros, are no more protected than before 18 October. This is an almost tragically absurd situation.”