Irish police officer feared swept away in floods

Dublin city council declares emergency as flooded rivers and canals cut off rail and road routes after incessant rains A young Irish police officer is missing after reports he was swept away in floods in County Wicklow on Monday night. A joint Garda, the Irish police force, and coastguard search has been launched with the police force’s helicopter and several mountain rescue teams involved in the operation. The garda, in his 20s, was off-duty but had gone out to help divert traffic away from a dangerous bridge, which was under water at Ballysmuttan at around 7pm. Dublin city council has declared an emergency in the Republic’s capital with the rivers Liffey, Dodder and Tolka bursting their banks. The Belfast to Dublin rail link had to be shut after flooding in the Clontarf area of north Dublin while all the internal rail services within Greater Dublin were shut down. Dublin Bus reported several buses were affected by floods and got stranded along routes close to the city’s canals. One of Dublin’s major shopping centres at Dundrum had to be evacuated after the first floor of the mall was flooded. Ireland Europe Flooding Natural disasters and extreme weather Dublin Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 24, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.