Limerick estate hit by 2009 floods allocated €135k for relief works
24/11/09 The Irish army pictured sandbagging houses to try and protect against flooding at Shannon banks, on the outskirts of Limerick CIty. Pic: Sean Curtin Press 22.
CLARE County Council has been allocated €135,000 to carry out flood prevention works at Shannon Banks.
The Defence Forces had to be drafted in and dozens of stricken families evacuated from their homes on the Corbally estate when the Shannon burst its banks during the severe storms of November 2009.
And Deputy Kieran O’Donnell said the area had now been prioritised in the OPW’s first slice of funding of 2012 for minor flood relief works.
“I am very pleased that the government is funding the construction of an overflow, attenuation and a submersible pump operation in Shannon Banks and €135,000 will be provided to Clare County Council to implement the works,” the Limerick TD said after the allocation was confirmed by Minister of State Brian Hayes.
“It is a sign of how important the issue is being taken by the government that this project in Shannon Banks is included in the OPW’s first funding allocation of the year under the Minor Flood Relief Works Scheme.
“I am hopeful that this is the kind of measure that will give people peace of mind and will help us to avoid the flooding that we saw in late 2009. The sole objective of the funding is to reduce the level of risk of flooding for people locally,” said Deputy O’Donnell.
“This tranche of funding will allow the authorities to build on the work that has been done by the OPW and other agencies in recent years in order to provide flood relief in Shannon Banks.”
Unprecedented rainfall was chiefly responsible for the flooding of Shannon Banks in 2009 while the situation was aggravated by the ESB’s decision to release higher amounts of water than normal from Parteen Weir, something the company insisted was unavoidable.
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