Devastated homeowners in the Corbally area of Limerick are demanding answers after flooding, which they say was avoidable, wreaked havoc in the area.
Several houses in Richmond Park were flooded and a number of cars submerged in water after the canal burst its banks on Saturday night.
The local girls’ secondary school, Ard Scoil Mhuire, narrowly escaped major water damage after flood waters lapped the doors of the school but failed to rise any further.
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Limerick City and County Council issued a statement on Sunday regarding the local flooding. It said efforts to release water on the canal were “successful” after “resolving some technical difficulties” with the Park Locke gates.
Eanna Rowe, regional manager with Waterways Ireland, said the level of the Mulcaire River rose by 2.5 meters in four hours on Saturday to record levels and the force of this water meant it was not possible to open the lock gates by hand.
“It really is unfortunate but there is nothing anyone could have done.” Mr Rowe said water had been released from the canal during the preceding days and, in anticipation of a in anticipation of flooding over the weekend, keys for the lock gates had been given to the council.
He said Waterways Ireland got a call late on Saturday when the council was unable to open the gates.
“The force of the water was such that you could not open the gates without mechanical intervention.”
The Corbally road - one of the main arteries into Limerick - remained closed on Sunday as workers continued to pump water from the nearby submerged College Park Road into the river Shannon.
The area is prone to flooding, but the waters normally come from the direction of the Shannon river rather than the canal.
Alarm bells about the rising canal levels had been sounded in the area since last Wednesday, and on Thursday the canal gates at nearby Lock Quay were partially opened to relieve rising water levels.
However these gates were closed again when the water levels dropped.
Angry locals are now questioning why it took so long to reopen the gates on Saturday, when record amounts of water were released from Parteen Weir by the ESB and the Mulcair river overflowed.
Some 420 girls attend the local secondary school, Ard Scoil Mhuire, which principal Brid Herbert hopes will be open again by Tuesday at the latest after narrowly escaping serious flood damage.
“When I came here the whole front of the school was completely covered in water, it was up to people’s waists, but it actually didn’t get into the school, which is an absolute miracle.
“It got to the last step and it didn’t get into the doors so thank God the school is not affected. They were pumping water out of the front of the school through Saturday night and the school will be open by Tuesday at the very latest.”
Minister for Education Jan O’Sullivan, who lives in Corbally, visited the area on Sunday morning and said questions need to be answered about how the canal gates system was managed.
“There does seem to have been confusion between Waterways Ireland’s role and the council’s role and the canal gates were not opened when the water poured down the Mulcair when it became swollen.
“We do have to find out what exactly happened, but there’s no doubt there are questions and some very serious questions and some some devastating results for the people in Richmond Park area.”
Munster rugby fans who left their cars parked at Ard Scoil Mhuire ahead of the Munster match in Thomond Park on Saturday returned to find their vehicles almost fully underwater.
Local Sinn Féin Councillor Maurice Quinlivan, who was helping home owners in Richmond Park on Sunday morning, said: “We need to confirm with Waterways Ireland what happened here. . . . .it shouldn’t have happened. The fact this area has flooded is absolutely disgraceful.
“It illustrates the stupid situation we are in where a number of utilities operate water services across the country. Nobody seemed to know who was in charge here on Saturday.”
Firefighters used heavily lifting machinery on Sunday in an effort to move some of the flooded vehicles.
An increase in the flow of water from the Parteen Weir, which controls the Shannon’s level through Limerick, has heightened the risk of flooding.
The ESB said the flow increase was required to cope with the volume of water accumulating upstream in Lough Derg.
An ESB spokesman said: “This level of water flow is likely to lead to increased flooding of roads, land and property in the vicinity of the Shannon, downstream of Parteen Weir, including the areas of Springfield, Montpelier, Castleconnell, Mountshannon (Annacotty) and the University of Limerick.”
The Limerick City and County Council statement said about 14 houses at Richmond Park, Corbally, were flooded on Saturday night as a result of the Park Canal overtopping its banks.
“Limerick City and County Council and Waterways Ireland responded to the problem on the canal and were successful in releasing the water on the canal after resolving some technical difficulties with the Park Locke gates.
The council said an ESB sub-station had shut down and around 100 houses in the area were without electricity for some time.
The Corbally area suffered from severe flooding in 2009 and again in 2014.
Additional reporting: Press Association