In Rathfarnham, south Dublin, floodwater had yet to fully recede on Tuesday evening at Nutgrove Avenue and Grange Park, areas badly affected in the wake of Storm Chandra’s downpour.
Ciaran Kirwan, a resident of Grange Park, woke up at 6.30am to discover water in his home.
“We have a new dog and I went to let him out to the back garden,” he said. “My son said it was flooded . . . when I went to the front door, the porch was full, it was absolutely flooded.”
In his garage, the water was up to his calves. The flow of water was beneath the floorboards in some rooms. He does not yet know the full extent of the damage or how much it will set him back for repair work. The Office of Public Works and the fire brigade were on site as he spoke to The Irish Times.
“People have become inured to weather warnings,” he said. “People don’t believe it until their feet are wet.”
Mr Kirwan said people attempting to drive their cars down his road only made the issue worse, causing a “ripple effect of water” that entered homes.
Ciaran Kirwan stands outside his house in Grange Park
In one home on the road, he said the water level was up to the third step of the staircase. Some neighbours have had to move out.
He saw two of his elderly neighbours being removed from their homes in wheelie bins by the fire brigade.
Mr Kirwan, who has been living in Grange Park since 2018, had to take the day off work.
He said the water level had receded about 40cm, but there was still cause for concern as “no one was pumping it”.
“It’s a disgrace,” he said. “We’re paying the price.”
Nikki Taylor and daughter Lori at Nutgrove Avenue, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish Times
At nearby Nutgrove Avenue, Nikki Taylor and her daughter Lori were shovelling gravel to the front of their home to protect it from the water, which was pooling on the road outside.
Having lived in the area for 30 years, Ms Taylor said this is the second flood she has seen, with the last one around 15 years ago. She said flood defences in nearby Loreto Park had been blocked by weeds.
Ms Taylor woke at 5am and saw water flooding the road. Her daughter’s bedroom is in the attic of the house. Lori recalled hearing “loads of wind and rain all night long”.
Shayna Wynne, who has lived in Rathfarnham all her life, said her three children were unable to attend primary school due to the flooding. She added that many other children could not get to school.
Eamon O’Dowd at Loreto Avenue in Rathfarnham, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish Times
Eamon O’Dowd, a retiree, has lived in his home on Loreto Avenue for almost 30 years. He explained that when he went to bed on Monday night, he heard the rain but never expected it to be “so bad”.
His wife was supposed to start work at 8am, but he could only leave her there at 2pm. “I said, ‘maybe I shouldn’t have brought you’, because halfway down there it was getting pretty deep and there are cars abandoned,” he said.
“It was actually piling down with rain. I thought, ‘oh . . . this is bad’.”
“We’re just not used to this.”
Rivers bursting their banks and excessive rain impacted homes and roads in areas throughout Leinster and beyond. Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford, Kilkenny, Louth and Carlow were affected, as were Waterford and Tipperary, with local issues in some other counties.
Very high winds were reported in parts of Ulster, with a mean speed of 92km/h and a “very severe gust” of 124km/h recorded at Malin Head, Donegal, on Tuesday morning, according to Met Éireann.
Parts of Antrim and Down were also badly affected by flooding. The weather station at Katesbridge, Co Down, recorded rainfall of 100.8mm overnight – well over twice its previous record of 38.2mm.