Emergency coordinators hopeful worst of flooding is over

There are “encouraging signs” the flooding of recent days is starting to subside, the Government’s emergency group has said.

For the third day in a row the National Coordination Group has not reported any worsening in areas which have been flooded over the last fortnight.

However, the weather remains a concern with rain forecast for next week. "We have a few days that are relatively dry, but there are incoming fronts. The extent of the rainfall is hard to predict. We will know closer to the time," John Barry, the chairman of the National Coordination Group said.

The Irish Red Cross has booked 165 calls for the Government’s Emergency Humanitarian Flooding Assistance programme since the flooding began to assist small businesses affected by the recent wet spell.

Some 48 forms have been returned and 25 have been forwarded to local authorities to be processed with a view to making payments on Friday.

The €5 million scheme pays out up to €5,000 immediately to small businesses disrupted by the flooding and larger amounts after assessment. Some 62 per cent of the applications are for amounts of up to €5,000 and 38 per cent for amounts above €5,000 and up to the limit of €20,000.

The levels in Lough Derg dropped marginally on Wednesday night and the flow of water through Parteen Weir will remain at 405 cumecs (cubic metres per second). It is expected to remain at this level of discharge for the next few days.

This level of water flow continues to have associated flooding to 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.

Water levels on the River Shannon also dropped in Co Offaly. In Shannonbridge the water level dropped by 22mm and levels were down 45mm in Banagher. Two houses remained flooded in Shannon Harbour on Thursday and a pump is being used to deal with localised flooding on Main Street in Shannonbridge. Sandbags are in place at properties in the Portavolla estate in Banagher.