There were "rivers flowing down the streets" in Bantry last night due to flooding, a local business representative has said.
Bantry and Bandon were among the towns in Cork hit by flooding last night due to the heavy rain brought by Storm Francis.
The latest rainfall came only days after the region was hit by Storm Ellen.
Diarmaid Murphy, chairman of the Bantry Business Association, told The Pat Kenny Show he hasn't seen such bad flooding in the town since he was a child.
He explained: "A little bit before midnight last night, the phones started hopping. New Street, Main Street and Barrack Street were getting very heavily flooded.
"There was a bit of panic - I've never seen the likes of it, to be honest with you. It's been devastating for the town."
Last night's flooding in Bantry as #StormFrancis hit.
Bantry Fire Brigade has said flood water has since receded.
📸: @ClancyColin pic.twitter.com/2RZh2A1ANX— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) August 25, 2020
Mr Murphy's own restaurant wasn't impacted due to it being located located on a first floor - but the shop downstairs was "quite badly flooded".
He said: "I'm on New Street - most businesses on one street in particular were quite badly flooded. Floors were completely wrecked... a lot of stuff on shelves completely destroyed.
"We're not in great form in Bantry this morning".
There are flood relief schemes in place for the town, with another programme in the works.
Mr Murphy said: "If this doesn't put a small bit of a hurry on getting the culverts and main drain sorted out... nothing will really. This can't happen again.
"Last night was insane... there were rivers flowing down the streets.
"Footpaths have been destroyed, roads have been destroyed... 2020 has not been a good year.
"A lot of businesses are going to be in big trouble with this."
He said the tourist season was busy in the town, but last week's bad weather 'knocked it on the head' and the overnight flooding is now a 'kick in the teeth'.
He praised the council workers who've been on the scene cleaning up after the flooding.
However, he said there's now a need to go "up a couple of levels" to examine how towns in west Cork have been hit by flooding in recent weeks.
Bandon
Fine Gael senator Tim Lombard is in Bandon, where flooding began after midnight this morning.
Tonight in #Bandon #StormFrancis is creating havoc on Bridge Street and South Main Street. Questions about why the underground pumps haven’t kicked in have to be answered. pic.twitter.com/Nyfp0KUxs1
— Tim Lombard (@voteTimLombard) August 24, 2020
He explained: "We've questions to be answered after spending millions of euro on [flood relief]... how badly we could get flooded again is absolutely beyond belief.
"The question here is whether the pumps were on or did the pumps kick in.
"[It's] a very, very angry and disappointed Bandon town here... people are looking for answers, [because] after ten years of construction we've had flooding here."
Senator Lombard - who is also a farmer - said there have been some "absolutely frightening" losses for cereal and tillage farmers in the area due to the flooding over the past fortnight.
He said: "This month in Cork... we've had 10-12 days of rain that I've never seen in my lifetime. We had something like 150mm of rain fall in the space of ten days.
"West Cork has been absolutely destroyed regarding the amount of rain that's after falling.
"I want to mention... the resilience of the people. Bandon today is open for business. Bantry today is open for business. They've bounced back straight away - they might have worked through the night to get their premises up and running, but they have bounced back."
