There are further flooding fears locally as another Status Yellow rainfall alert is in effect again.
Met Éireann’s latest notice for Carlow and Kilkenny, as well as Wexford, Waterford, Wicklow and Dublin kicked in overnight and runs to midnight tonight (Thursday, 29th January).
It comes as many areas across both our counties still have high river levels and burst banks. (See here, here and here).
Council crews in Carlow were last evening called to assist those in the Millrace and Springfield areas while a number of people had to be helped from their vehicles after getting stuck in flood waters.
Difficult travelling conditions may again present so care’s advised.
We’ll have updates on air and will update below so if you’ve something to share please text/whatsapp straight to studio 083 306 96 96.
Roads:
Services & Businesses Impacted:
- Clonegal’s shop continues to operate from a nearby shed as we’ve been hearing from its owner;https://soundcloud.com/kclr96fm/kclr-news-martin-quilty-meets-a-county-carlow-shop-owner-who-had-to-move-his-operation-to-a-shed-28th-jan-2026?si=be897dcbe6434aab8932717ff4ece70c&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Supports
It was confirmed yesterday that the Emergency Response Payment is now available to those in properties directly affected by Storm Chandra locally.
Kilkenny County Council says; “This aims to prevent hardship by providing income-tested financial support to people whose homes are damaged from flooding and severe weather events and who are unable to meet emergency costs for essential needs, household items and structural repair.
“The scheme does not provide a general compensation payment for damage or losses incurred as a consequence of a weather event, nor does it cover damage or losses that are insured under home insurance policies or would reasonably be expected to have been covered by an insurance policy. Neither does it cover commercial, agricultural, or business losses. It is available as a support for households which experience unanticipated and exceptional costs in the immediate aftermath of an extreme weather event.
In dealing with emergency events the department generally adopts a three-stage approach as follows:
- Stage 1 of the scheme is to address hardship in the immediate aftermath of emergency events and provides emergency support payments to cover immediate and essential costs such as the purchase of food, clothing, bedding and essential personal items for immediate use and is not income tested. This support will be available from today until Wednesday 04/02/2026. It does not cover the purchase of replacement food or other items. – See stage 2.
- Stage 2 involves the replacement of white goods, basic furniture items and other essential household items where there is a valid reason why these were not covered by insurance and where the person can demonstrate that it is essential that the items are replaced and that they do not have the financial resources to cover these costs themselves.
- Stage 3 covers costs of essential structural repairs to a person’s primary residence where the person does not have the resources to cover the costs involved. The type of repairs includes plastering, dry-lining, relaying of floors, electrical re-wiring and painting. These costs are only covered if they are essential, result directly from damage caused by the emergency event and there are valid reasons as to why household insurance was not in place. All costs are subject to expert assessment by a loss adjuster.
While Stage 1 is not income tested, income testing does apply to Stages 2 and 3 of the scheme. However, it is important to note that the income test for the Emergency Response Payment is more generous than that applied under means tested social welfare payments in general.
Reduced or tapered level of support may be provided in cases where a household’s income is above the limits. The basic principle of the income test is that individuals and families with average levels of income will qualify for assistance, which includes non-Social Welfare recipients.
The income limits are outlined at Appendix A below.
The scheme does not cover:
- commercial, agricultural, or business losses.
- losses covered by an insurance policy or which could reasonably be expected to have been covered by an insurance policy.
- loss of items deemed to be inessential or luxury items.
- structural loss or damage to rented accommodation.
- any additional properties that are not occupied and lived in as the primary residence.
- repair or replacement of motor vehicles.
Levels of payment under the scheme depend on the relative severity of damage experienced and the household’s ability to meet these costs from their own resources. This ensures that the funding is appropriately targeted.
If any homeowner affected by severe weather needs to access these supports, they can contact the Community Welfare Service by phoning 0818 60 70 80.
Further information on the Emergency Response Payment is available at: gov.ie – Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (www.gov.ie)
