Ireland

Communities continue to wait for Shannon levels to subside

Over 200 Irish Army troops have been deployed in communities along the River Shannon to help bolster flood defences. Picture courtesy of Irish Defence Forces
Over 200 Irish Army troops have been deployed in communities along the River Shannon to help bolster flood defences. Picture courtesy of Irish Defence Forces Over 200 Irish Army troops have been deployed in communities along the River Shannon to help bolster flood defences. Picture courtesy of Irish Defence Forces
By Valerie Robinson

FAMILIES and businesses along the River Shannon remain on alert for flooding today as anger rises over how the authorities are handling the crisis.

The Republic’s Office of Public Works is reporting that water levels along Ireland’s largest river are continuing to rise from Athlone in Co Westmeath down to Limerick city and county.

The decline of water levels is expected to be slow because of continued rainfall, leaving many areas vulnerable for weeks ahead.

AA Roadwatch is reporting flooding in all four provinces, but Counties Limerick, Clare, Westmeath and Galway remain the worst affected so far, with 220 members of the defence forces deployed to assist communities.

In Limerick, 14 houses were flooded at Richmond Park in the Corbally Road area after the Park Canal overtopped its banks and the canal gates failed to open late on Saturday night.

Great grandmother Vera O’Donnell (65), whose pet chihuahua, Princess, drowned when flood waters entered her home, told The Irish News that the family was struggling to recover from their experience.

“I’m heartbroken. Princess was so loveable and so tiny… There was so much confusion and I thought she was safe on the chair in the sitting room. But [relatives] found her body in the water at the back of the telly,” she said, adding that water levels had reached almost two feet.

Mrs O’Donnell said that she and her 66-year-old husband Anthony had refused to leave their room despite the remaining “unbelievable smell” and failing efforts to dry out the floors and walls.

However, she remains gripped by fear that the flood waters will return and wreak more havoc on the family.

“I am still really worried that this could happen again and that there will be another flood. If that happens I really don’t think I will be able to take it,” she said.

Officials are blaming record flooding on the Mulcair river combined with flooding on the Blackwater river and increased discharge through Parteen Weir.

However, Anti-Austerity Alliance councillor Cian Prendiville is claiming the authorities’ failure to build defences for the area, after it was hit by flooding in 2009, meant it was vulnerable.

He has also said it took several hours for the canal gate to be opened and for residents to be provided with sandbags.

“There is no plan for us to be provided with permanent flood defences,” Mr Prendiville told The Irish News.

Separately, Sinn Féin councillor Maurice Quinlivan has called on Waterways Ireland to compensate the Corbally residents whose property has been damaged.

The ESB has issued a statement saying that the level in Lough Derg had increased marginally in the last 24 hours and the flow of water through Parteen Weir would remain at 440 cumecs (cubic metres per second) today.

The company warned that the current flow level was “likely to continue to have associated flooding to land and property in the vicinity of the Shannon downstream of Parteen Weir including the areas of Springfield, Montpelier, Castleconnell, Mountshannon (Annacotty) and the University of Limerick”.

In Athlone, efforts remains underway to prevent flood waters entering homes and businesses amid warnings that levels on the Shannon in the area are continuing to rise slowly and will not peak until Wednesday.

President of Athlone Chamber of Commerce John McGrath told RTÉs Morning Ireland that retailers were being badly hit as consumers stayed away from the town over flooding fears.

Mr McGrath suggested the media reports on the recent bad weather were wrongly creating the perception that Athlone and other areas were “literally under water and inaccessible”.

He warned that the negative publicity had seen businesses in the town report that they were 60 per cent short of their targets for this time of year.

Businesses in Carrick-on-Shannon are also under pressure with over 100 parking spaces under water at the moment.

The Dublin government has allocated €10 million to assist homeowners affected by the floods and an additional €5 million for businesses.

Meanwhile, the Environmental Pillar is calling on the government to bring in substantive land use changes to protect communities from increasingly frequent high rainfall events.

“The restoration of wetlands, bogs, native woodlands, and hedgerows can play a hugely important role in both preventing flooding and dealing with climate change," according to Theresa O'Donohoe, convenor of the Climate Change working group of the Environmental Pillar.

“If we do not deal effectively with climate change and land use in Ireland, the best information we have suggests we will continue to see very damaging annual flooding in our towns and cities.

“Fortunately the same measures we need to bring in to deal with climate change can also help prevent flooding as they slow down water on land.”