FLOODING: Southern half of the country braces itself for another battering of rain

Communities remain on high alert with heavy rains expected to batter the country today, causing floods in many areas.

Cork and Limerick are braced for a deluge as heavy rain comes in from the Atlantic, hitting the southern half of the country — Clare and Kerry are also on alert.

Met Éireann issued an orange weather warning in the south-west yesterday.

Forecaster Evelyn Cusack said that “there will be heavy rain south of the line from Galway to Dublin, including Dublin”.

The national co-ordination group, which met again yesterday, has warned that areas along the Shannon, from Athlone to Limerick, face flooding as peak water levels will not be seen until early next week.

Irish Water said a boil water notice is still in place in Ballinasloe, Co Galway.

The Defence Forces were helping by filling sandbags and transporting stranded people in Limerick, Clare, and Galway.

Army personnel from the 12th Battalion, Sarsfield Barracks, filling sandbags to protect homes after the flooding in east Clare

Jim Casey of the OPW said the River Shannon rose 2in yesterday, on top of a rise of 6in in the previous 48 hours.

“The key message is river levels are still rising on the Shannon from the central catchment to the lower catchment and also small rises on the upper catchment in the Carrick-on-Shannon area,” said Mr Casey.

“The forecasting models are indicating that rivers will continue to rise downstream of Lough Derg down to Limerick City.”

These rising river levels, coupled with high tides and more rain in the coming days, have local authorities on flood alert.

Mr Casey said: “There is some high-intensity rainfall coming in throughout Saturday, so there will be heavy rainfall, high-intensity short-duration rainfall, and that has the potential to cause surface water flooding, pluvial flooding, and has the potential to impact on the road network.”

An aerial view of the flooding in Springfield, Clonlara, Co Clare, which is readying for more heavy rain coming in from the Atlantic this weekend

John Barry of the Department of the Environment, who chaired yesterday’s meeting of the national coordination group, urged the public to remain vigilant while travelling over the weekend and to avoid coastal areas where strong winds and large waves are forecast.

“For people travelling, the advice is to detour rather than to seek to traverse the flooded roads,” he said.

“Flowing flood waters can be deeper and faster than they appear; it’s very easy to get into trouble in situations like that.”

There was relief in Athlone as Westmeath County Council received an improved forecast from the ESB. It indicated that Shannon levels would not reach 2009 levels, peaking instead 15cm below the previous predicted levels next Wednesday.

The latest forecast indicates a 12cm rise.