Galway washed out as swathes of county endure worst flooding in years

FEARS that this month’s flooding could be as bad as Galway’s catastrophic weather event of November, 2009, have been allayed with the rains set to ease off from today.

However large swathes of the Galway countryside in the southern and eastern parts of the county are under water after the torrential rainfall of the past week.

Residents in Craughwell erected sandbag barriers last Monday after the Dunkellin River burst its banks – there were also growing concerns in the Ballinasloe area on Wednesday morning due to the rising levels of the River Suck.

Abbeyknockmoy rainfall recorder Brendan Geraghty had rainfall of five inches for the month so far on Wednesday morning – however, a figure far removed from the extremes of November, 2009. Almost 1.5 inches of rain fell last Saturday.

“In November, 2009, we had over 4.3 inches of rainfall in a three day period from the 17th to the 19th, and a whopping 12.67 inches over the course of that month,” said Brendan Geraghty.

Met Éireann are forecasting that the wind and rain will largely be replaced by colder but drier conditions over the weekend, in the wake of storm Barney that brought 125km winds on Tuesday last.

See full coverage in this week’s Connacht Tribune.