Burst watermain causes flooding at Coosan home

At exactly 4.12pm on Friday last, the driveway of Angela and Eddie Bannon's home in Coosan was relatively dry. Seconds later, it was engulfed by a small river of floodwater which seemed to appear out of nowhere before flowing downhill towards their house. The incident, which was vividly captured by CCTV cameras at the couple's house, was the result of yet another watermain burst in an area which has been plagued by them in recent years. Work has been taking place in recent weeks to install new watermains in the locality, and council staff soon attended the scene of this burst in order to limit the damage caused. The flooding didn't affect the interior of the Bannons' home, but the couple said their driveway will now have to be resurfaced as a result of it. A footpath around the house has developed cracks. The couple's garage - which is separate from the house - was flooded and so too was their back garden. Angela, an Athlone native who is well-known as a singer and musician, said she's worried about possible damage the water may have caused to the foundations of the house. "It's hard to properly assess the damage at this stage because everything is so wet at the moment," she told the Westmeath Independent on Monday. "If there is damage to the foundations it won't come to light until everything dries out." Her husband said this was the third time the watermain in question had burst during the last four or five years. "It could have been worse. Nobody died. But this is a hassle and it will have to be sorted out," said Eddie. Angela and Eddie, who are parents of four, said the council's staff were helpful and encouraged them to take plenty of photographs of the damage which was caused by the flooding. Angela said the flooding had come as a shock. "It's nothing that can't be replaced, but it's money we can't afford for something that's not our fault. So we're just hoping the council will put it right," she said. Like most Coosan residents, the Bannons have been affected by periodic disruptions to their water supply in recent times. They said their water supply returned at the weekend following last week's outages. "We have been more fortunate than others who have been without water for weeks," said Angela.