LIMERICK FIREFIGHTERS HAVE helped divert millions of litres of water away from people’s homes in Corbally, Co Clare, after a water main burst in the area late last night.
Water was gushing out of the burst main on the R463 at Westbury, next to an Applegreen filling station, at around 10.40pm.
In 2009 dozens of houses in the adjacent Shannon Banks housing estate were destroyed when the River Shannon burst its banks in the wake of severe rainstorms.
Twelve firefighters attached to Limerick City Fire Service, travelling on two fire engines, responded to the scene last night.
The firefighters used sandbags and floating pumps to help protect homes at risk from the sudden burst of floodwater from being breached.
“The homes are currently safe. We opened the street drains and we are also using floating pumps,” said a source at the scene.
“One local man told us he had been clearing the drains recently. It’s a good job he did,” they added.
A stop-go traffic system was being operated by firefighters last night as they continued to try to stem the flow of water.
It’s the second large burst water main in the region in just two weeks.
In the early hours of 15 July residents in Bengal Terrace awoke to a river of dirty water flowing through their homes as a result of another burst main.
Ten homes were destroyed when a three-foot wave of water flooded through them.
Residents who were forced to evacuate to local hotels complained the water was contaminated with raw sewage.
Irish Water said they had not found any evidence of sewage in the affected residents’ homes. A spokesman said they were investigating the cause of the burst main.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say