Flooding fears for Mayo

US report reveals specific areas under threat of flooding by 2050

Edwin McGreal

Large parts of coastal Mayo will be under risk of flooding by 2050 according to a worrying report.
Considerable parts of Erris, Achill, and north and west Mayo are at risk of being below the high tide line in 30 years, according to research carried out by Climate Central, a non-profit science organisation based in New Jersey, USA.
Long coastal stretches north and south of Louisburgh town are under threat while in the Westport area, there is a large parcel of land in Carrowholly projected to be below the tideline in 2050. Carrowholly has, in the last decade, suffered from a number of flooding incidents.
In Mulranny land on both sides of the bay in the village are at risk, as are parts of the N59 road leaving the village for Ballycroy.
In Achill, coastal parts of Keel, Dooagh, Dugort, The Valley and Dooniver are at particular risk while large tranches of coastal parts of Ballycroy are are under threat.
Moving further into Erris and areas around Geesala and Doohoma in the parish of Kiltane are at risk while moving into Belmullet itself, considerable coastal areas in the Mullet peninsula are under threat, according to the paper.
On Erris’s north coast, coastal parts of Barnatra, Rossport, Cornboy and Carrowteige are under threat. Further east a significant parcel of land due north of Ballycastle village is at risk while coastal parts of Lacken and Killala are also affected.
The research, which has been published in the journal Nature Communications and in The New York Times, shows that rising seas could affect three times more people by 2050 than previously thought.
While there has been much discussion and debate about how climate change might affect particular areas, the specific nature of this research allows for a sobering assessment of exact areas under particular threat.
In Mayo, many homes, businesses and critical infrastructure will be at risk, according to the report.

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