Ireland battles severe flooding

DUBLIN (AFP) - Ireland battled its worst floods in decades on Saturday, with the government rushing to provide shelter and drinking water to those affected and soldiers dispatched to assist.
Prime Minister Brian Cowen was to chair an emergency task force meeting on the crisis later in the day, the government said.
Environment Minister John Gormley said he is undertaking a tour of the worst hit areas from the unprecedented flooding.
We have been told this is a once in 800 years event. We have had no fatalities and that is a blessing, he told RTE state radio.
Troops have been drafted in to assist emergency services in the worst hit areas, particularly Cork in the south-Irelands second city-and towns in the south and west of the republic.
Rivers have burst their banks and coastal towns were also threatened with sea flooding caused by high tides and storm force winds as Irelands meteorological service forecasted more heavy rain.
The immediate priority for government is to ensure that shelter is available for those people who have been displaced from their homes and to arrange for the provision of emergency supplies of safe drinking water where systems have been damaged, Cowen said in a statement.
Gormley said a major issue in Cork, where the River Lee burst its banks, was access to good drinking water and sanitation.
Tankers were delivering water in many parts of the city after the floods damaged a pumping station.
Fears of pollution in other areas have led to boil notices being issued for water supplies.
Thousands of hectares were submerged and the Irish Farmers Association warned of severe economic repercussions.
Meteorologist Gerry Fleming compared the floods to a similar crisis in 1947.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Saturday visited the scene of massive floods that killed one person and stranded hundreds in the heaviest rainfall on record in England.
Brown met flooded-out residents in Cockermouth, northwest England, and emergency services workers who have been battling to cope with the freak downpours.
Some 314 millimetres of rain fell in 24 hours over scenic Cumberland county in northwest England earlier in the week, causing floods that swept a policeman to his death and destroyed bridges. Hundreds of stranded residents were airlifted out.
Earlier, Brown praised the superb response of the emergency services.
Four bridges collapsed in the area, with an estimated 1,100 homes affected by flooding and several hundred people displaced.
In Cockermouth, the town worst hit by the floodwaters, helicopters winched people to safety and rescue boats negotiated streets turned into canals after the Derwent and Cocker rivers burst their banks.
More than 200 people were forced to leave their homes as the bridges collapsed into the raging rivers and main roads were blocked.
The market town was the birthplace of poet William Wordsworth and Fletcher Christian, who led the 1789 mutiny on the Bounty.
Cockermouth sits on the edge of the Lake District, a picturesque national park containing Englands highest mountains.
Queen Elizabeth II sent a message saying she was deeply concerned and saddened by the flooding and thanked emergency workers for their selfless efforts.
My thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been affected and whose homes and livelihoods have been damaged, the head of state said.
The Environment Agency said four severe flood warnings remained in place in the area.
Julian Mayes, a forecaster with MeteoGroup UK, said: What happened was at least a one in 500 year event. It was an historic day which broke all records.
Policeman Bill Barker would have been 45 on Saturday was directing motorists away from a bridge over the Derwent in the coastal town of Workington on Thursday when he was swept away.
The bridge collapsed into the surging river and his body was recovered on a beach.