Mr. Lawrence Owens:

The event in 2014 was probably not as bad as the 2009 event in that it was mainly a tidal flood. Cork is subject to fluvial and tidal flooding. Once the atmospheric conditions, in terms of high tide, rain and pressure, reach a critical point, the water comes back up the channel into the River Lee and is forced back upwards literally everywhere. It comes back up through the normal pipe network and overflows the quay walls resulting in a Doomsday situation. While it is the case that water flows up the street and in doorways it also comes back up through whatever public services are in a building, leading to flooding from the inside out too. For this reason, defences have to be external and internal.