Clare locals fear the worst as Shannon bursts its banks

Thousands of sandbags have been delivered to homes in south-east Clare after the River Shannon burst its banks between the ESB-operated Parteen Weir and Limerick.

Clare locals fear the worst as Shannon bursts its banks

Thousands of sandbags have been delivered to homes in south-east Clare after the River Shannon burst its banks between the ESB-operated Parteen Weir and Limerick.

Heavy rainfall and increased discharges from the weir have left residents along the Shannon catchment bracing themselves for the worst possible outcome.

Springfield has been struck by three devastating floods in recent times.

Surface water levels on lands surrounding homes in the rural community rose by 45cm overnight on Wednesday.

Local mother of three Bridget Kinsella, whose home has previously been swamped by floods, said “nothing” has been done for the area since it last flooded in 2016.

She praised Clare Council, which has delivered 5,000 sandbags to the area in recent days, but said residents “are still worried the flood will come”.

In 2016, her sons, Luke, 20, and 19-year-old twins Philip and Jake, kept the waters at bay by building a sandbag fortress and manning water pumps 24 hours a day.

However, the battle took its toll on Philip, who collapsed from exhaustion and was ferried out of the flooded neighbourhood by ambulance to hospital.“

The Office of Public Works had indicated its approval in principle to a possible solution consisting of a combination of an embankment construction and the installation of pumping facilities. However, this has not materialised.

Declan Flanagan, a council engineer who visited the community yesterday, said: “Surface water has risen a foot and a half overnight.

“We are monitoring it. We are delivering sandbags and pumps to 10 homes in the area, as a precaution.”

Some 5,000 sandbags were delivered, with each home taking between 500 and 600, Mr Flanagan added.

An ESB spokesman said the amount of water discharged had increased to “245 cumecs” (cubic metres per second) at the Parteen Weir by 12pm yesterday.

“The situation is being kept under constant review,” he said.

Residents also received a text message from the ESB which informed them flooding was not expected to occur “as a direct result” of the discharge rate.

However, the message also said: “If there is heavy flow in the downstream tributaries, flooding may occur.”

The ESB spokesman said: “The level of water flow is likely to result in flooding of roads and may affect land and property in the vicinity of the Shannon downstream of Parteen Weir.”

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