At least two men died and an estimated £500,000 worth of damage was caused by freak floods which swamped towns and villages in the south-west on Tuesday night and early yesterday. The area worst affected was north and west Cork and west Limerick.
One man died when a tree fell on his car at Coolnasmear, Dungarvan, Co Waterford, late on Tuesday night. He was named yesterday by gardai as Mr Tom Whelan (57), a farmer who lived alone at Kilnafrehan.
He was found by a neighbour at 8.45 a.m. yesterday on a lonely road not far from his home. Mr John Leader, a bachelor in his early 60s from Meenskehy, Cullen, in north Cork was found dead in his car near Lyre at around midnight. It is believed he suffered a heart attack when confronted with a flood and crashed into a ditch.
According to local sources in Lyre, torrential rain flooded the road. A later spell of rain around 11 p.m. resulted in a wave of water engulfing the Lyre-Millstreet road and washing away Lacklown Bridge, near where Mr Leader's car was found.
The west Cork fishing fleet was unable to land catches in Castletownbere yesterday because 80 foreign trawlers taking shelter had blocked access to the pier.
In the village of Freemount, over 20 customers and staff of Browne's Bar had to take refuge upstairs when a four-foot wall of water hit the pub shortly before 11 p.m.
Ms Edel Browne, daughter of publican Mr Billy Browne, said the group had just moved upstairs when the flood waters came in. About 10 houses in the village were also flooded and 10 cars were swept down the main street.
In nearby Milford, on the Cork-Limerick border, six houses at the east end of the village were flooded. One elderly couple, Mr Johnny and Mrs Ellen O'Gorman, had to be taken to a neighbour's house.
Several houses were also flooded in Drumcollogher in west Limerick. In west Cork, the villages of Ballineen and Enniskeane suffered flooding with up to one foot of water entering some houses.
On Strand Street in Clonakilty, houses and business premises were flooded. A high tide caused the River Feagle to burst its banks at around 3 a.m, flooding houses in Bridge Street and Casement Street.
Rathbarry post office in nearby Castlefreke was under two feet of water while fire brigade units in Skibbereen and Macroom pumped out several premises.
A spokesman for Met Eireann said the weather will remain blustery today with widespread heavy showers. Winds will gust between 55 and 60m.p.h. (90 and 100k/h) and will be strongest in the south. There will also be a risk of thundery rain.
Winds are due to ease tomorrow and it will be a brighter day.
Sailings by Stena Sealink Line and Irish Ferries were disrupted yesterday.
Stena Sealink said it expected its services to be back to normal today. Irish Ferries said it expected delays this morning on its Dublin to Holyhead route.
The Irish Farmers' Association said the storm caused further problems for the State's 17,000 grain growers, who suffered "major losses" following flooding during the August bank holiday.