At mercy of the elements
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THOSE who lived through the Newcastlewest floods had never seen anything like it; and certainly they never want to see the like again. The experience, though brief, was terrifying, and only by a mercy did everybody in the town survive uninjured.
To say that they had never seen anything like it is the simple truth. Newcastlewest is not one of the "usual suspects", like the vulnerable towns on the Blackwater and Suir -- Mallow, Fermoy, Clonmel, Carrick-on-Suir -- or Cork city centre. Suddenly the River Arra, swollen by heavy rain, overflowed, flooded homes and businesses to a depth of over four feet, and swept away cars and household goods. It was a moment of terror.
A rare moment for the west Limerick town, but all too common for those not far away on the Blackwater. Yesterday, Mallow and Fermoy prepared themselves yet again for what they feared could be a bad night. Residents of Mallow could, if they chose, view the sad sight of a racecourse covered in two feet of water. A sadder sight was that of a business premises in Bridge Street, flooded seven times in the past 11 years. They recalled the events there and in Fermoy last January, when parts of the two towns were left under six feet of water, then under a coating of stinking mud.
And they recalled that the flood relief plan for Mallow, promised almost a decade ago, has still not been completed.
Local -- and national -- politicians were very voluble yesterday. They addressed a sceptical audience, wary of unfulfilled promises. Local people know who are the true heroes and heroines: the emergency services struggling to restore normal life, the owners of small businesses who clean up the mess and reopen their premises as soon as they possibly can.
But no amount of stoicism or even heroism can make up for lack of constructive action. The plain fact is that, whatever about the effects of global warming elsewhere rainfall is increasing in Northern Europe. In Ireland, meanwhile, there is over-development in almost every population centre of any consequence. And population centres for the most part are situated in river valleys.
These simple facts prompt simple answers to simple questions. Los Angeles cannot prevent earthquakes, but, as we saw this week it can erect buildings that withstand them. Similarly, little Ireland cannot reverse climate change, but we can see to our flood defences. Let us do it now.
