Flooding update from the county council

Westmeath County Council

River Shannon in the Athlone Area

11.45am Sunday December 13

Water levels in the River Shannon are continuing to rise slowly and are being monitored by Westmeath County Council.

Over the last 24 hours, water levels increased by approximately 10mm and as of this morning, three houses have been inundated in the Athlone area.

The council is in receipt of an ESB forecast of river levels for the next three days and this is indicating that the River Shannon in Athlone will continue to rise slowly up to Wednesday December 16.

The highest predicted level is 39.45mOD, which is approximately 40mm above current levels.

The current flooding in Athlone is having a severe effect on a small portion of the town but the effects are localised and there is no impact on the town at large. All transport links, streets, car parks and commercial areas are operating normally and will continue to do so over the weekend and into next week.

Westmeath County Council has activated its Flood Emergency Response Plan and a meeting of the interagency Response Committee is held each day at 11am.

At today’s meeting, chaired by Westmeath County Council and attended by representatives of the Defence Forces, An Garda Síochána, Irish Water, and the HSE, it was agreed that the agencies would continue to assist people to protect their homes and businesses, to provide transport where this is required and to provide other humanitarian assistance. At the meeting, Irish Water advised that there is no issue with the quality of water supplied through the public system at the present time. All response actions will continue over this weekend.

A further update will issue after the meeting at 11am on Monday December 14.