A woman who returned to her home in Moher Crescent, Mitchelstown on Friday last after evacuating it the night before, was trapped inside as the water levels rose quickly outside in the raging flood.

Margaret Lynch had to leave her home in the dead of night on Thursday last, after receiving a warning from Gardai about the oncoming floods. She has lived in 9 Moher Crescent for five years and so far, her house has been flooded three times, while a new 2010 car she owned was flooded and written off in a previous flood.

At 1.30am on Thursday night, Mrs Lynch had to call her daughter and go to her house. When she returned to the house on Friday, as the rain seemed to subside, she ended up trapped in her home. While her daughters had to scale the wall next door to get out, at the age of 70, Mrs Lynch was not in a position to climb over the wall.

SOLUTION NEEDED

Margaret's daughter Breda said that this is an ongoing problem and that they are sick of it. While the fire brigade and drain company were out draining the water and clearing the pipes afterwards, it is simply not good enough to live in fear of the next heavy shower or flood.

Cllr Noel McCarthy said that something needs to be done about this and a delegation from the residents' association will be delivering a deputation to the next meeting of the Fermoy Electoral Area Committee in Mitchelstown. "We have to find some long term solution, it's not fair on the residents," Cllr McCarthy said.

The residents described the water as 'gushing' up, while Mrs Lynch said that she can't even park her car outside her own house, just in case it starts to rain heavily and the estate gets flooded.

Yesterday (Wednesday), the council employees were working in the estate in an attempt to clear the drains, as engineer Brendan O'Gorman said that the floods were caused by blockages.

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