Failure to maintain gulleys leads to city flash flooding in heavy rainfall

By Stephen Corrigan and Francis Farragher

Torrential downpours over the past week have led to renewed calls on Galway City Council to keep storm drains clear around the city – with some areas falling foul of flash flooding last weekend.

On Sunday, blocked drains in the city created large accumulations of surface water in Newtownsmyth – and caused flood damage to some houses on Fr Griffin Road.

Local councillor, Niall McNelis, hit out at the City Hall for not keeping these water outlets clear and said that while he had the utmost of respect for workers on the ground, those in charge were failing to get the job done.

“I would be the first to defend Galway City Council when they are not in the wrong, like with the recent flooding when my own business was destroyed.

“But when the drains aren’t being cleaned, that is just bad management,” said the Labour councillor.

He claimed that following Storms Eleanor and Fionn, drains were cleaned in the areas most affected but other areas such as Salthill, Claddagh, Knocknacarra, Barna Road and the City Centre were being neglected.

“We have seen this time and time again in areas such as Cross Street in front of Supermacs where the drain is always filled.

“At the end of the day, it is just not good enough. If I hear one more time about the shortage in resources … if we can’t keep the drains cleared, then what are we even doing,” exclaimed Cllr McNelis.

He said the Council should be more proactive in their clearing of the drains and called for the implementation of an effective roster system to ensure that leaves, dirt and debris are removed from the drains before flash flooding becomes an issue.

Galway City Council said that a crew was on standby over the weekend in anticipation of heavy rainfall and that they had not received any calls in relation to the flooding.

It said that drains in Newtownsmyth and on the Fr Griffin Road were cleaned on Monday following the issues that arose over the weekend.

The Council has a two-man crew and a suction sweeper allocated full-time to gully maintenance.

However, Cllr McNelis said that this wasn’t enough and that the timing of the flooding last Sunday made it difficult for people to contact City Hall.

“I appreciate the work that they do but they don’t seem to be hitting the areas that are being affected by this flash flooding.

“When they say that they have received no reports – they’re not open at the weekend and this happened on a Sunday.”

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.