Met Eireann warned people in Leinster to expect heavy rain, thunderstorms and some spot flooding on Saturday, but the weather forecaster could hardly predict the dramatic scenes with a ceiling collapse at a branch of Dunnes Stores.
That’s exactly what happened, at the retailer’s shopping centre in Cornelscourt, south Dublin on Saturday evening as a prolonged downpour caused sections of the ceiling to cave in.
Video posted on social media show water streaming through several light fixtures as staff rush to put out ‘wet floor’ signs and receptacles to collect the rain water.
It wasn’t long though before the ceiling tiles gave way under the weight of the water — much to the shock of staff and shoppers.
Motorists at Dundrum Town Centre also got caught in flooding on the streets around the shopping centre while people inside shared images of staff attempting to cordon off areas of widespread flooding.
The flooding caused restaurants located outside on the ground floor at Dundrum such as Jamie’s Italian, Nando’s, Zizi’s and The Counter to close while the level one mall between Butler’s Cafe and Clarks also closed.
Videos showed cars crawling through flood waters in Dundrum and nearby Goatstown, with drain covers overflowing, creating massive pools of water at the lowest points of the roads.
‘Urgent drainage maintenance needs on Dundrum Road,’ one pedestrian wrote in an understated tweeted to Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council with a video of people wading through one such pool.
‘Scattered heavy showers continuing for a time this evening, particularly over Ulster and Leinster, with the chance of thunderstorms and further localised flooding,’Â Met Eireann had warned.
The national weather forecaster said conditions should be ‘holding dry across most areas’ today with some sunny spells and a few isolated light showers — but not repeat of Saturday’s downpour.
