Big clean-up in city centre after floods wreak havoc

Date Published: 28-Jan-2013

BY CIARAN TIERNEY

A massive clean-up operation was underway throughout the city centre yesterday afternoon after an unprecedented deluge of rain resulted in the flooding of roads and business premises from Shop Street to the Wolfe Tone Bridge.

Flood drains were unable to cope with the deluge which started just before 11am and a number of shops were engulfed by flood water, while Galway City Council moved quickly to close off a number of roads.

Business owners in the Flood Street and Spanish Parade area, in particular, had to move swiftly to stop the flood waters entering their premises and a number of them were forced to stay closed throughout the afternoon.

The business owners were quick to compliment the quick response of both Galway City Council and Galway Fire Brigade, who acted quickly to pump the flood waters away from their premises and reopen the streets to traffic.

Areas such as the Spanish Arch, Lough Atalia, and the Wolfe Tone Bridge were reopened to traffic within a couple of hours, although Cross Street remained closed until 6pm to facilitate a major clean-up of the area between the Dail Bar and Bridge Street.

“We were not expecting what happened today, as this level of flooding usually coincides with high tide,” said a spokesman for Galway City Council. “This was a particularly high volume of rain for about 40 minutes either side of 11am.

“Even businesses who are used to flooding were caught off guard, because the deluge happened so quickly.”

It is believed that a manhole ‘popped’ on Shop Street due to an unprecedented level of water pressure, causing a small amount of flooding to premises on both sides of the street. Kumar’s Restaurant on Flood Street and Pura Vida, Spanish Parade, were less fortunate as the flood waters entered their premises.

The Wolfe Tone Bridge was closed to traffic for some time after the heavy downpour, as high winds pushed water from the River Corrib up onto the road. Lough Atalia was also closed off, with traffic being diverted onto College Road for a time.

City Council staff were on the scene within minutes to clear drains and gullies and Anthony Ryan of the Galway City Business Association praised the rapid response of both local authority staff and the Fire Brigade.

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel