2 dead in Irish flooding emergency

Two people died after torrential rain led to widespread flooding in Dublin and the east of Ireland, police said Tuesday. The rain, which one official described as a once-in-a-century event, caused traffic chaos and severe flooding as rivers burst their banks and storm drains could not cope with the volume of water. An off-duty policeman was swept away when he tried to warn motorists about dangerous flood waters late Monday and the body of a woman was discovered when water was pumped out from the basement of a flooded property in Dublin on Tuesday. After a day of torrential rain Dublin Council activated the city's major emergency plan on Monday as flooding caused chaos. Ireland's meteorological service said a month's rainfall had fallen on Monday, most of it within about six hours. The rivers Liffey, Dodder and Camac all burst their banks at various locations in Dublin and surrounding areas. "The deluge on Monday was horrendous. Hundreds of homes have been flooded and businesses have been affected by electrical outages," a police spokesman told AFP. Off-duty policeman Ciaran Jones, 26, was swept away when he tried to warn motorists about flooding from the River Liffey south of Dublin at Ballysmuttan Bridge. Police said a body has been recovered near another bridge on Monday. Tom Leahy, Dublin city manager, said the flooding had not just hit the capital but also areas along the entire east coast. "It was exceptional rain," he told RTE radio. "We are talking about the equivalent of once a century in terms of statistics. "You are not going to be able to escape from a once in a century rainfall without flooding," he added. One of the main shopping malls in the south of the city, the Dundrum Shopping Centre, remained closed Tuesday after a local river burst its banks and flooded shops and the car park. Damage caused by the flooding knocked out the electricity supply to the main Courts of Criminal Justice in the centre of Dublin and all trials there were cancelled.