Flash flood causes costly damage in Laois homes

Thousands of euro worth of damage is claimed to have been caused by severe flash flooding in an area which Laois County Council says is outside its area of respsonsibility.

That’s what Cllr Conor Bergin, Fine Gael, was told when he raised the flooding with management at a recent meeting in county hall.

Cllr Bergin called on the local authority to install a flood prevention wall at the Moore and Dooley residences at Moneymore, Borris-in-Ossory as a matter of urgency and apply to the Department of Transport for funding under the Climate Change adaptation and resilience works for same. He explained why.

“We had severe flooding at this location a few weeks ago. It was some of the worst flooding in the municipal district. We had flash flooding from heavy rain,” he said.

Cllr Begin said a gulley was overwhelmed and property was hit.

“Thousands of euro worth of damage was done to one residence while another was partially damaged. It is causing a lot of anxiety,” he said.

He said people are afraid they will be hit again and a flood wall is needed due to the fact that water rises quickly.

Mr. Paul McLoughlin, S.E., Capital Projects Office, replied in writing.

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“The location in question is outside the Drainage District for which Laois County Council have statutory responsibility for. The Capital Projects Office will assist  Municipal District Staff in assessing, developing and submitting an application (where appropriate) under the OPW Minor Works Scheme for measures to address the flood risk,” he said.

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Cllr Bergin said he was surprised by this as the area falls within the River Nore catchment with the flooding caused by the Nore. He insisted that the council does have a responsibility to address the problem. 

He was backed by Cllr James Kelly, Independent, who described what happened as a ‘disaster’ for the households.