The uneasy calm after the storm in Crossmolina

DAMAGED AGAIN The Hiney and Quinn business premises in Crossmolina were victims of flooding damage earlier this month. Pic: Michael McLaughlin

Edwin McGreal

On Thursday morning last as you drive through Crossmolina there is little sign on the streets that most of the town centre was underwater the previous weekend.
The River Deel, which caused the flooding, flows at a relatively low level through the town and only sandbags here and there on street corners gives you a clue.
However walk around the town and talk to people and there is only one topic of conversation. People are in fear of a reoccurrence. In fear that the town’s infrastructure will not cope with similar weather conditions again. And as fearful that the emergency response will not be adequate either.
In Quinn’s Chemist on Bridge St, a few short metres from the Jack Garrett Bridge from which flood waters flew, causing much of the damage, the clean-up is still ongoing.
Daragh and Alison Quinn and their staff have never had a week like it, working all weekend to try to limit the damage and getting up and running again in the busiest trading time of the year.
With a flood gate at the front as a defence, Quinn’s had never been breached before but this time the water was so powerful that it seeped in the sides of the building and went up to knee height inside, at its peak.

Around the clock
Daragh Quinn credits around the clock work by his staff and countless volunteers for ensuring the problem was not much, much worse but the damage was considerable nonetheless.
With the power cutting out, veterinary and pharmaceutical products which require refrigeration were lost, at a cost Daragh estimates at €100,000. He is covered by insurance this time but is not confident he will get his policy renewed after this claim.
“Where would that come from next time with no insurance? That would be enough to bankrupt you,” Daragh told The Mayo News.
There is a sense in the town of Crossmolina that towns elsewhere in the country are getting a much greater priority from wings of the state.
“You hear that Bandon are getting a flood relief scheme after five years. We’ve had problems for 26 years. It’s as if people don’t care about people in the west of Ireland. I blame successive governments for this, not just this government. Fianna FΡil were no better,” Cllr Michael Loftus (FF) told The Mayo News.
“I have a friend who is a pharmacist in Bandon,” says Daragh Quinn. “They had 12 fire engines in Bandon pumping water for 30 centimetres of water. We had one metre and 30 centimetres of water and one fire engine for the whole town,” he adds.
Enda Hiney went for a walk down by the River Deel on Friday night at 8.30pm. He saw a river that was ‘low by winter standards’.
“I said to myself ‘we’re fine for tonight anyway’. Next thing Saturday morning we were full steam ahead doing what we could. It was red alert at 8am. In less than 12 hours the water had risen by that much,” he recalls.
‘Awful feeling’
Enda Hiney’s pub, supermarket and house were all breached by the flood. It was an incredibly difficult weekend for him.
“It is an awful feeling locking the front door of your home in two foot of water and not knowing what you’re coming back to,” he recalls.
Tales of woe are many. Locals tell of one elderly lady whose house was flooded in 2005. A long, drawn out battle with the insurance companies ensued and she finally got new carpets in four weeks ago. Her home has been flooded twice since.
Fr Gabriel Rosbotham ought to have been safe with a flood gate at his front door but the water cleared the height of it and he had to be brought out of the home in a boat.
“This is the worst we’ve ever seen,” said Daragh Quinn. “I’ve spoken to various TDs over the years. It seems that once the floods recede, it is forgotten about. That’s not good enough.
“It’s like watching a football match with the various agencies, they are very good at passing to each other, passing the buck from Billy to Jack. I would love to see a round table meeting with community representatives and the various state bodies. Someone needs to take ownership of this problem and not pass the buck,” added Mr Quinn.
There is also increasing levels of frustration at the fact that dredging of the river is restricted by the status of parts of the Deel as a Special Area of Conservation, with pearl mussels among the protected species.
“Who is more important - pearl mussels or the human race?” said Michael Loftus.
“There’s a three point action plan needed. One is to build a canal, the second is to clean the length of the river and the third is a new bridge in the town,” added Cllr Loftus. He said a ‘layman’s estimate’ would be €10 million and suggested the canal upstream across towards the river before it enters Lough Conn is a short route and would divert water during heavy rainfall.
Daragh Quinn asked that people especially consider the importance of shopping local after the floods.
“It is vital people shop local if they can. Local businesses have lost days trading,” he said.