One river burst its banks while a road was turned into a raging torrent after Storm Ewan dumped hours of heavy rain in Co Clare today.
The main Ennis to Ennistymon N85 road was left impassible in several locations for a time while there was severe flooding along many other parts of the route.
Large plastic safety barriers located on the main N85 road near Kilnamona were washed away into the path of traffic after a river burst its banks.
Many motorists opted not to drive through the flooding and took alternative routes only to find those roads flooded also.
On one of the diversion routes, at Erinagh More near Fountain, the road was turned into a raging river as water flowed downhill at an alarming rate after flooding a local farmers land.
A local man said: “The river burst its banks here five times last year but this is the first time this year. The water is coming down from Inagh and Kilnamona and will keep coming for days even after the rain has stopped.”
“I’ve seen people drive through this and get bogged down. That’s a steep him and there is huge force behind that water and it could easily lift a car,” he said.
One motorist said: “This is madness. You turn off one road and you meet a flood. You go up another road and get can’t get through there either. Where was the council or the guards or even a few signs telling us where we could actually go. I don’t know these roads and a few diversion signs would have been handy.”
A group of cyclists out training for an event next weekend found their path flooded at several locations. One member of group cycled through one flood to check how deep the water was but he was forced to turn back.