Nenagh swamped by rain of biblical proportions

A THUNDER and lightening shower of biblical proportions on Saturday afternoon last turned the streets of Nenagh into rivers and left shops, businesses and homes swamped.
Residents and business owners are this week counting the cost of the damage to their properties following what witnesses said was the heaviest and most sustained downpour they had ever seen in the town. 
“I have been here 26 years and I have never seen anything like it,” said Nenagh Chamber of Commerce Vice-President Denis Finnerty.
He said there had been a lot of damage done to businesses due to the floods, but owners were getting on with dealing with the situation and most - not all - were open again by last Monday morning. 
The award winning Cinnamon Alley Cafe in Hanly's Place run by Marie Nagle has had to close for a week due to the damage while a flat roof of another restaurant in Pearse Street partially collapsed under the weight of the rain.
But Mr Finnerty said most businesses were up and running again this week. “Shops just seem to be tuned into getting on with things and getting open again. The business sector in the town has had a few testing years and are a very resilient bunch,” said Mr Finnerty. 
He said the scene while the downpour lasted - for over an hour - was unbeliveable. “You could definitely feel the humidity building up. It got unnaturally warm and then it just started bucketing down. People were in town in their T-shirts and were not expecting anything like it.
“The streets were a river of water. I've never seen a monsoon rainfall, but I can't imagine it being any worse. Whatever weather formation it was it just stuck over us and was very slow to move on.
“There were people pushing water out their shop doors,” said Mr Finnerty, who said shoppers on the streets fled into his shop for shelter as he distributed his stock of umbrellas to those brave enough to face the outdoors.
He said his own shop was not badly damaged, but the torrential rain did leak through a number of sections on the roof that was recently repaired. "It almost impossible for buildings that are on the streets for so long to not let in some of rain.”
The Chairman of the Nenagh Municipal District, Councillor Seamus Morris, said the rain was so heavy there was little anyone could have done to prevent what had happened.
“I don't think there is a whole lot we could do, except be more prepared with sandbags. I have been talking to the council about it to look if we can do better, but this was a freak event - yet we can expect more of this in the future due to climate change.”
Councillor Morris added that he would be consulting with council engineers to see if an emergency plan could be rolled out to deal with such extreme rainfall in the future. He said the fire services were absolutely brilliant for the manner in which they responded. “They managed to save some places from even worse damage.”
Nenagh Municipal District Manager Marcus O' Connor said gullies around the town were not blocked. "The problem is that we had really extreme rainfall and no storm water system would be able to cope with the volumes of rain that fell."
Mr O' Connor said flooding caused by waves from passing cars  in Silver Street and Friar Street could have possibly been avoided if the council had closed off these streets in the early stages of the downpour.
Brian Hoare, of Hoare Brothers Electrical in Silver Street, said  his workshop and warehouse premises flooded after the rain flowed from John's Lane into the adjoining public car park and entered his property from the rear. A major clean-up on Saturday night meant he was able to re-open for business on Monday morning. 
Among the other places impacted by the flooding included Friars Court, the Hibernian Inn, Pamela Scott's and the Holland and Barret Shop in Pearse Street. There was also substantial damaged caused to Flynn's Bistro in Pearse Street.
The Sportsman's Dream was one of the worst hit premises in Kenyon Street, but there was also reported to be some flooding in Quigley's and the Cinneamon Alley café. 
Among the housing estates impacted were Hamilton Drive off Chruch Road and Ballygraigue Estate.