Homes near Clonlara flooded as water levels rise

A number of homes in south east Clare near the Limerick border were flooded on Saturday after the Blackwater River breeched its banks.

The river rose over a protective bank flooding surrounding fields before quickly entering the houses near the village of Clonlara to a depth of more than 30cms.

Caroline Micks, whose home is flooded, said it was “complete mayhem”.

“The bank behind the house here burst a little bit and the water was coming into then fields behind us, filling them up,” she said.

“Within a few minutes the gardens were full and it was up to the house and that’s it.”

She thanked her neighbours, who are also flooded, for racing to her family’s aid.”The worry is the weather is set to get worse,” she said.

The mother of three added: “It happened in 1995, but a lot of work was done on the retention on the bank, but this is worse. I’ve never seen the river this high before.”

People in flood risk areas along the lower River Shannon have been warned to expect further flooding as the ESB increases the spill of water from Preteen Weir to ease the increasing pressure further upstream.

According to Limerick City and County Council the additional discharge together with the heavy rain on Saturday is leading to an increased risk of flooding, particularly in the areas of Montpelier, Castleconnell and the Mountshannon Road (Lisnagry).

Shannon rising

In a statement issued on Saturday, the ESB said that as the Shannon continues to rise, the flow of water through Preteen Weir will increase to 405,000 litres per second (405 cubic metres per second) on Saturday.

This is over ten times the normal release rate for this time of year.

Further flooding is expected this evening the areas of Springfield, near Clonlara, Co Clare, and the Co Limerick areas of Montpellier, Castleconnell, Mountshannon (Annacotty) and the University of Limerick.

The levels in Lough Derg are monitored and regular assessments made of flows, however with further rain expected, the level of water flowing down the Shannon may increase further in the following days.

Residents living in flood risk areas along the Shannon in Limerick and east Co Clare fear the likely spills from Parteen Weir would not be far off those seen in 2009, which resulted in the worst floods in decades.

Council crews are dealing with a number of incidents and will continue to monitor the situation throughout the day.