Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns has called on the Government and local authorities to offer every support available to households and businesses most affected by flood damage in the wake of Storm Babet.
Deputy Cairns said:
“The sheer scale of the clean-up operation after yesterday’s storm is staggering, with millions of euros worth of damage caused to homes, shops and business premises. My sympathies lie with all those directly impacted by this extreme weather event, which saw one month’s rainfall in the space of 24 hours.
“In particular, my thoughts are with those Cork and west Waterford communities which took the brunt of the storm’s force and whose lives and livelihoods have been devastated by such serious flooding.
“Those who suffered loss because of the storm must be given immediate and unrestricted access to the State’s humanitarian assistance scheme so they can begin to rebuild their lives. There should be a special focus on helping those families and businesspeople who have been unable to get flood-related insurance and now face extreme financial hardship.
“More catastrophic weather events such as the one we witnessed yesterday are inevitable given the impact of climate change. This should prompt local authorities around the country to expedite flood relief schemes that have been approved but not started or completed.
“In addition, every effort must be made to tackle logjams in the planning process which often result in essential flood alleviation works either being delayed or not proceeding at all.”
October 19, 2023