Dublin People - Council slammed after chaos

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Council slammed after chaos

Thursday, 21 August 2008

ELDERLY Northside residents have slammed Dublin City Council claiming it failed to protect the most vulnerable people in society during last week’s torrential flooding.
According to 81-year-old Botanic Avenue resident Michael McGlynn, the flood of Saturday, August 10, was the “greatest disgrace ever”.
“The water levels kept rising and we kept calling the council pleading with them to come out and help us but nobody came,” he told Northside People.
“The phones didn’t answer but when someone eventually picked up they said they were too busy.
“We were scared and left to fend for ourselves. They couldn’t even offer us sandbags.
“Eventually we got so panicked that we called the emergency services and the fire brigade came out to pump the water.
He added: “It is an absolute disgrace that elderly people are treated like this. We shouldn’t have to go through this at this stage of our lives.”
Michael and his wife also worried about an elderly neighbour who was home alone at the time.
“She’s in her 90s and we couldn’t get to her to help,” he explained.
“We didn’t know whether she was alive or dead. Thankfully she managed to get upstairs to get away from the water.”
The McGlynns know only too well what it’s like to lose everything, following the devastating flood of 2002 when the Tolka River burst its banks.
“We had to move out of our house for three months because of the previous floods,” Michael explained.
“The council said it would do everything it could to prevent it from happening again but as we saw again this time, the council doesn’t move until the horse has bolted.”
Clonliffe Road resident Colette Hayden told Northside People how many residents fear their insurance will be affected if they claim for the damage of the recent flood.
“Our homes flooded in 2002 and some people fear that if they make another claim for flood damage they won’t be covered or their insurance rates will shoot up,” she said.
“People are also worried that this area will be deemed a flood risk and that perhaps the value of our houses will be affected.”
She added: “Some people are even saying that all bills for the damage caused should be sent to Dublin City Council as this flooding should have been prevented.”
According to Colette the flooding would not have been so bad if the gullies were kept clear.
“They are rarely cleared,” she claimed. “In fact, my husband and another neighbour have cleared them themselves on a few occasions.
“The council failed to prepare and deal with the flooding crisis. We didn’t get sandbags until four days after the big flood. One resident called the council to ask for sandbags and was told to go to Woodies to buy a bag of sand.”
Patricia Dunleavy of Kinvara, Dublin 7, also said many residents feared being blacklisted if they made an insurance claim.
“Our homes could be deemed a serious flood risk which could push our premiums up and affect house prices,” she explained.
“This flood has huge implications and people are very frustrated and angry at the council for its failure to prevent another huge flood.”
She added: “Who is going to foot the bill for all this?”
According to a spokesperson for Dublin City Council, the floods could not have been prevented and they did everything possible to minimise its effect.
“What several parts of Leinster experienced was pluvial rain, unprecedented monsoon-like rainfall of huge intensity, not caused by high tide or flooding resulting from high river levels,” it was stated.
“On Saturday August 9, we experienced a month's rainfall in a 24 period, which Met Eireann were unable to predict.
“Arising from a coastal zone risk assessment study, we now have a tidal warning system in place to alert us to coastal flood risk and we are probably the only city in Ireland to have one.
“Investment is already underway on the River Tolka and the River Dodder and at Spencer Dock, the latter which deals with the Royal Canal with regard to flood risk reduction measures.
“An important step in the restoration of the Spencer Dock Sea Lock took place with the installation of new outer, tidal lock gates on May 28, 2008.”
It was added: “The tidal lock gates will dramatically reduce the risk of tidal flooding along the canal’s banks.”
The council said it would not reimburse householders for any damage caused by the floods.
“The council is not liable for damage which may have been caused to houses as a result of the extreme and unpredicted weather event experienced in the past few days,” it said.
“All householders are responsible for their own goods and contents insurance.”
The spokesperson outlined what efforts were taken to deal with the flooding.
“We mobilised our crisis management plan with all our frontline services being deployed – drainage, fire brigade, waste management, civil defence and water services with over 500 staff working at affected locations.
“Furthermore, a number of people came back to work from annual leave to augment the response to the floods.”

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