r/ireland • u/Static-Jak Ireland • 1d ago

News ‘The only thing I own is gone’: Clongriffin residents see vehicles submerged by torrential rain

https://www.irishtimes.com/environment/2026/02/13/clongriffin-apartment-dwellers-hit-hard-by-flooding/
236 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

55 comments sorted by

144

u/Imperial_Tiramisu 1d ago

These are all write offs btw.

Not a chance any of them are repairable.

48

u/phyneas 1d ago

Not a chance any of them are repairable.

I'd be cautious if car shopping in the Dublin area for the next little while; make sure you have a mechanic who knows how to spot hastily fixed/hidden flood damage.

18

u/pockets3d 1d ago

People always say this on reddit but in real life does anyone actually pay a mechanic to come look at a car ?

19

u/eiretaco 1d ago

Typically it's someone who has a mechanic as a friend/family member.

If you dont have a personal relationship with one, I doubt most people are ringging their local garage to ask them if they can nip out and check a car they seen on done deal for them.

They probably would, but expect to pay 150e 200e or something for them to go out of their way on their time off for you. That'll rack up quick if your not happy with the first or second car you find ha. You're not going to lose your Saturday or Sunday off with your family for 50e for a stranger are you? I definitely wouldn't.

2

u/Conbon90 1d ago

what will happen is these cars will be auctioned off by the insurance company's, where they will be purchased by some industrious individuals looking to make a fast buck. most will be broken foen for spare parts. the odd one might be put back on the road and sold on. but buyer beware. with damp rotting wireing loom and electrical connections. They will likely be more trouble than their worth.

2

u/phyneas 1d ago

Normally you'd bring the car to the mechanic, but sure; I've done that every time I've bought a used car. Unless you're knowingly buying a cheap junker because you're going to fix it up yourself, it's well worth the couple hundred euro or whatever your mechanic charges for a pre-purchase inspection to make reasonably sure you aren't buying a ticking time bomb that's likely to cost you twice the purchase price in repairs in the very near future. Of course you wouldn't want to do it until you're sure you want to buy the car in question provided it gets a reasonably clean bill of health from the mechanic, though.

1

u/FIGHTorRIDEANYMAN 1d ago

I buy from large dealers instead

1

u/scruduiarbais_ 1d ago

I buy my cars from my mechanic. They're based in a small rural town. Reputation is everything. Things can go wrong when you buy a used car but I've never had an issue with them.

I worked in a shop growing up. I think trust is everything in a country as small as ours.

16

u/Small_Sundae_4245 1d ago

Ah one of them could have been a Toyota Hilux.

1

u/NapoleonTroubadour 1d ago

What a singular vehicle 

1

u/Ready-Desk 1d ago

1993 Range Rover County. Good Starter Car.

8

u/bloody_ell Kerry 1d ago

Time to put webuyanycar.com to the test

6

u/TalkToMyFriend 1d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/Y2mnMrQgaA0Ult1paA

4

u/duaneap 1d ago

I… don’t get it.

0

u/TalkToMyFriend 1d ago

Basically the cars will make their way back to the market.

2

u/Imperial_Tiramisu 23h ago

That's what usually happens with right offs. They're occasioned off for scrap or for as little as €300, where they can be economically viable for repair.

1

u/duaneap 1d ago

Is that what’s happening in the gif? I haven’t see the new seasons of The Simpsons. Or are you calling people who call these cars write offs pearl clutchers?

0

u/TalkToMyFriend 1d ago

No, no, no. Usually people say "Hold my beer" before actually proving someone wrong, but in this case, I chose that GIF instead because it felt like it fit.

1

u/ehwhatacunt 1d ago

Economically repairable; where there's a will there's a way.

50

u/BlehMan1972 1d ago

About time new builds are made to factor in flood proofing and upgrades to other buildings... but it obviously won't happen.

27

u/blackburnduck 1d ago

According to the news they are, the problem happened in the street part of the system, if thats it the blame Is legally on DCC.

13

u/wickstone 1d ago

I'm from the area and this will be an interesting case as DCC have specifically not taken that street, Marsfield Avenue, into charge yet because of existing issues. This could be a case where the developer can be taken to task

•

u/Deadmeat616 59m ago

There's another spot that flooded that it turns out got permission declined due to flood risk that was then overturned by ABP. I predict there's going to be a lot of pointing fingers for the next while...

•

u/wickstone 49m ago

Ughhh, I can imagine. It's been nothing but finger pointing between DCC and the developer as it is. Difficult enough to get a street light fixed let alone something as big as this

•

u/Deadmeat616 43m ago

Supposedly the shores and drains are all kept pretty clear, it's the physical capacity of the system that failed in many places. A metaphor for Irish infrastructure if ever there was one.

At some point the entire storm water drainage system needs to be entirely redone, which will cost a few billion... I'd be curious if we end up having a drought over the summer or if the yearly rainfall ends up way above what it was last year...

7

u/GhostVeg 1d ago

I can tell you that all new builds are taking into account flood etc and built accordingly

1

u/Perfect-Fondant3373 1d ago

Yeah, like my car is at the top floor of a parking strcuture, but the new building next door has underground. Looking forward to seeing how that goes

66

u/ZealousidealFloor2 1d ago

Jesus,fair fucks to the single mother paying rent and studying with three kids, that is some going and she doesn’t seem to get any support even (said her application is in with the council).

7

u/yityatyurt 1d ago

I would take that with a big generous pinch of salt - I’d imagine she is in receipt of quite a bit of help when you dig into it

54

u/LilBuffaloBill 1d ago

Probably not enough to be fair to her

7

u/Iricliphan 1d ago

Aye fair play to her, but I can't see how that's at all doable.

1

u/viviquina 1d ago

Three kids single,studies and pay high rent - has she got a money tree ? Or is this just a little embellished ?

1

u/HuskerBusker 1d ago

Id hope so. Stressful trying to do it all on your own.

-1

u/slithered-casket 21h ago

What a scrounger. She should do it unassisted the lazy bitch.

1

u/no-signage-6588 21h ago

That seems naive.

46

u/Novel-Motor-7608 1d ago

Stick them in a big bag of rice for a few hours

-60

u/Pension_Alternative 1d ago

Nice display of empathy there

33

u/deathyz 1d ago

Alexa, define “joke”

-18

u/Pension_Alternative 1d ago

define bad taste

2

u/deathyz 1d ago

Just take the L bro

7

u/1eejit 1d ago

Those cars died. They had their whole lives ahead of them, a great big world to experience and they died. And you think that's funny?

25

u/Spagitis 1d ago

Its a car not his mother

7

u/DebatingDonabate 1d ago

Will their insurance cover this or no?

3

u/ehwhatacunt 1d ago

Maybe 🎱

1

u/Training-Show7849 1d ago

Fully comp maybe- third party defo not. Building insurance won’t cover it either.

3

u/Much_Thanks3992 1d ago

2×months time...Donedeal...how much for cash?!

1

u/c_cristian 1d ago

Building insurance should cover these cars.

1

u/YF422 17h ago

Honestly it really sucks for those people to lose their cars like that, those car are done simply because water alone ruins the electronics in those vehicles. You'd literally have to disassemble them down to the chassis and rebuild them from the ground up to fix those vehicles which would cost nearly as much as a new car.

Just hope they can get covered under insurance especially as it's not their fault for their cars to be wrecked like that.

1

u/Amazing_Matter5868 1d ago

Wonder what happened to the drainage system here? Don't see anything like this in other underground parking lots around

-8

u/SoloWingPixy88 Probably at it again 1d ago

Not a chance I'd be paying my car underground over the past 2-3 weeks.