Ireland - Communities on high flood alert along River Shannon

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IFA calls for Government to cancel farm inspections due to flooding

The level of water in Lough Derg increased marginally in the past 24 hours, the ESB says

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Swans glide by a sandbag barrier on The Strand in Athlone Town, in the ongoing battle against the rising waters of the Shannon River. Photo: RollingNews.ie

The Irish Farmer’s Association (IFA) is urging the Government to do more to help farmers affected by flooding. 

At this stage up to 100,000 hectares of land are under water and communities remain on alert with more rain forecast for this week.

Tonight the risk of flooding persists along the River Shannon - however defences are said to be holding steady in Athlone for now.

The IFA’s Tom Turley says he is concerned about Farmer's mental health and wants routine Department of Agriculture inspections called off.

“This is just in disarray at the moment,” Mr Turley

“I can’t emphasise this enough, the Department have got to stop these inspections forthwith.

“The minister just needs to come out and say I’m calling of all inspections under force majeur circumstances – end of,” he added.

The National Emergency Co-ordination group has said today that water levels in most rivers are falling.

However, water is still rising in the lower half of the River Shannon, although at a lower rate than yesterday.

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IRISHCENTRAL

Dramatic flooding to come in Ireland as the Shannon River’s waters rise

Frances Mulraney @FrancesMulraney

December 15,2015 01:13 AM

An overall view of the River Shannon flowing into Athlone Town: the National Emergency Coordination Centre has said there is a high risk. Photo by: RollingNews.ie

Towns along the River Shannon are still feeling the effects of recent extreme bad weather, with further rain possibly flooding areas that are not yet under water.

According to Ireland's national weather service Met Éireann, there may be further “nasty” weather in the coming week, with the possibility of orange rain warnings for the south and southwest over the weekend.

Weather forecaster Gerald Fleming said at a briefing of the National Emergency Coordination Committee that there is no immediate danger as of yet, although it may develop into a serious weather event.

Air corps pictures over the Shannon area during Storm Desmond. Image: Air Corps/Photocall Ireland.

 

“There will be above normal rainfall over the course of the next six or seven days,” Fleming said.
“At the moment none of the individual events are at the orange status serious warnings level, but we’ll have to keep a very close eye on that because a couple of the events have the potential to get there.

“We’re in a situation where a number of those rain events have the potential to turn nasty, and potentially they could cause flooding in areas where there has been no flooding so far if that were to happen.”

Regions along the banks of the Shannon, Ireland’s longest river, are still battling with flooding caused by Storm Desmond over a week ago, with flood levels in the Lower Shannon area, from Lough Derg to Limerick City, only expected to reach their peak on Tuesday.

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