Hundreds of protesters braved heavy rain in the east Cork town of Midleton on Saturday to highlight delays in flood-protection measures aimed at preventing a repeat of Storm Babet, which caused an estimated €200 million worth of damage.
Homeowners from Midleton and surrounding villages in east Cork such as Castlemartyr, Killeagh, Mogeely, Rathcormac and Whitegate, organised the march to mark the second anniversary of the storm.
Over 100mm of rain fell in the east Cork area during Storm Babet in October 2023, causing severe flooding in Midleton and the surrounding villages. About 600 homes and 300 businesses were damaged. Some properties were left with repair bills amounting to tens of thousands of euros.
Mona Stromsoe, chairperson of the Midleton and East Cork Flood Protection Group, told the rally people throughout east Cork are living in fear of a repeat of Storm Babet. She said the Government, the Office of Public Works (OPW) and Cork County Council have done little to expedite flood-protection measures.
RM Block
“We are two years on from Storm Babet and sadly little has changed to protect our homes, our businesses and people’s lives – two years on and we are still in fear every time it rains. We are just as vulnerable today as we were on October 18th, 2023 when Storm Babet struck.
“We are here today to send a message to the Government, the OPW and Cork County Council that we are not happy with the progress of flood protection for our east Cork communities – the people of Midleton and East Cork are done waiting.”
Ms Stromsoe said that people in Midleton and East Cork were told that they had “dodged a bullet” on the day that Storm Babet struck, because the tide was out so flood waters from the Owenacurra and other rivers were able to drain into Midleton Estuary.
“We were lucky that no one died in Midleton or any of the surrounding villages that day and the reason for that was probably because it happened in the middle of the day – I dread to think what would have happened if Storm Babet had struck in the middle of the night.”
She said the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran had pledged €5.8 million in funding for Individual Property Protectors, barriers to put across doors and windows. Although the scheme was rolled out in October 2024, just 30pc of the required barriers have been delivered.
“That’s not 30pc of properties protected – that’s properties getting one barrier each when they need two, three or maybe four – they will be waiting for the rest of the barriers, and it will be mid-2026 at the earliest before this roll-out is completed.”
Ms Stromsoe said debris had been removed from rivers, trees cut back on banks and some shores cleared, but this was maintenance which should be done on a regular basis.
Caroline Leahy, the group’s secretary, said Midleton had suffered floods between 2000 and 2018, but Storm Babet was the worst and there was no understating the risk to life that a repeat would pose.
“The damage of Storm Babet cannot be forgotten and as long as we stand together as a strong united community, we will make sure that it never is – we will not sit and wait for a fatality as the weather worsens,” said Ms Leahy.
“When the next flood arrives in this town, we will not give the leaders of our country the chance to stand here in their wellies for a photo op and claim they did not know this was coming – it is up to us as a community to shout for help for east Cork and we will not be silenced until we are all safe.”
