COUNTY Hall officials were today told that a culvert that was designed to save Douglas from a possible one-in- 1,000-year flood had not filled up with water on the night the village was swamped.
Senior management at Cork County Council have been shown video footage of the flooding 11 days ago which was captured by cameras situated at the Douglas Village shopping Centre.
It’s understood that the developer of the shopping centre, Clayton Love, has told council management were also told that a flooding alarm inside the culvert had not sounded. The alarm is designed to go off to alert shopping centre management when water levels reach a height of concern inside the culvert.
The fact the alarm did not sound suggested the flood waters bypassed the tunnel and spilled onto the roads and streets of Douglas instead.
Meanwhile, the county council  is appealing to the Department of Transport for 7.4m to fix crumbling roads.
They have  also appointed outside consultants, RPS,  to examine what exactly went wrong on the morning that areas of Douglas, Glanmire and Clonakilty flooded.