Hundreds of students at Athlone Institute of Technology had to evacuate their lodgings overnight due to flooding.
Around 60 or 70 students were forced to spend the night in the student union building after a dam on a small river broke yesterday evening and flooded houses in the Willow Park estate. Dozens of others had to stay with friends or in hotels overnight.
A spokesman for the Institute said that there were around 300 students living in the estate. It may be up to two weeks before the mop-up is completed and they are able to return to their accomodation, he said.
Around 10 families living in the area also had to evacuate their homes last night. Dozens of homes were damaged by flood waters, gardaí said.
The families spent the night in temporary accommodation and have now returned to their homes.
It is estimated that damage amounting to tens of thousands of euro was caused.
