South Mayo residents facing anxious wait as water levels rise

NO GO AREA Many residents of The Neale are fearful of a return to a scene like this one in Creevagh from December in 2006, one of many roads which became impassible. Pic: Michael Donnelly

Anton McNulty

HOUSEHOLDS marooned by flood waters in south Mayo face an anxious few days as they face the prospect of their property being flooded by rising water levels.
Incessant rain in the last number of weeks has resulted in acres of farmland around parts of the country being flooded with a number of roads in south Mayo currently closed by the local authority.
The R334 between The Neale and Ballinrobe has been closed since Saturday having been covered with water a metre deep and other roads including The Neale to Clonbur and Lough Mask to Cong road have also been closed. The Cong to The Neale road is currently open but motorists are urged to travel with extreme caution.
The amount of rainfall in Mayo in February has already greatly exceeded the monthly average with twice the monthly average recorded in all four of the weather stations in the county. As of February 23, the Newport/Furnace weather station has recorded 257.1mm of rainfall since the start of the month with 126.5mm the average for February.
South Mayo has been particularly badly hit by flooding with two houses either side of The Neale crossroads and a house in Roundfort have been marooned by the rising water. Local councillor Damien Ryan said it was a worrying time for the residents affected by the rising water and the next 24 to 48 hours will determine if homes will be flooded.
“If the water continues to rise it will get within inches of homes and it could go either way for the people involved. At the moment all we can do is help the people as best we can and hope the water does not continue to rise,” he told The Mayo News.
Cllr Ryan explained that since the last major flood in December 2015, the road at The Neale crossroads has been raised by up to one metre. The water currently covers the wall at the side of the road and he said this shows how much rainfall there has been.

‘Disaster’
“It is a disaster for people living in the locality at the moment. My children go to school in The Neale and to get to school I have to go to Ballinrobe and to Cong to get to The Neale. It is the same for a lot more people. Despite the rain stopping the water levels have already raised by four inches today and it could be a number of days before the water recedes. It is far from ideal but as long as the water does not affects people’s homes and property we can live with it,” he said.
Mayo County Council erected barriers on the closed roads over the weekend but despite the warnings at least one person decided to try to take the chance and had to be rescued by the emergency services. The motorist got stuck in the water at around 9am on Monday morning and two ambulances, a fire engine and council staff had to retrieve him from the water.
“I would not attempt to drive through that flood in a tractor. There are barriers up at each side of the flood and I would urge people to take heed of the warnings,” Cllr Ryan said.
Meanwhile Met Éireann have issued a status yellow warning for the country for snow and ice for today until 9am on Wednesday morning. They stated that this will result in wintry showers, mainly of hail and sleet, and will become increasingly widespread during Tuesday leading to icy patches.