Clonown couple count the cost of devastating flooding

Early Friday morning Teresa and Mick Lyons woke up to find water coming up to the skirting board level at their home at Cornabull, Clonown. By Tuesday, that had risen to two and half feet of water in their home as the couple now count the cost of the devastating flooding over the last few days. "Everything is gone. They got their clothes and dad got his oxygen before they left, that was it. He has cancer in his lungs, he needs it 24/7. It was just important to get them out quickly," their daughter Claire Earley told the Westmeath Independent this week. "They were very upset. The land around the house has flooded before and some water once trickled into the house but never to the extent it has now," she said, an action that forced her to seek alternative rented accommodation for her parents on Friday afternoon after 18 years living in Clonown. She now fears they will never get back to their home because of the water damage to the structure and the foundations of the building since the weekend. "They are very distressed, you have no home facilities and you just have to start fresh. We grabbed what we could before we left, like photos, things like that you can't replace but basically everything is gone," Claire recalled. "I don't think they will get back there. The water has to affect the foundations of the house, plus with my dad's lungs he couldn't go back with the moisture." Three neighbours along the same road also had to leave their homes due to the flooding, Claire Earley added. On Sunday evening 13 people requested assistance from Roscommon County Council in the Carricknaughton area of Clonown in the face of rising flood waters and no access to their homes. A further 23 people remained in their homes as they considered they were not in immediate danger. A Flooding Incident Team has been set up in the county to deal with the flooding crisis, and they are available to those displaced to arrange accommodation. Sandbags are also available on request. Since Friday staff were working to raise the access road to Carricknaughton in a bid to improve the situation. A number of other local roads have also been affected by the rising waters and motorists are urged to take great care travelling anywhere over the next few days. However, Claire Earley feels the flooding situation in the Athlone area could have been eased somewhat if the ESB had opened the gates in Ardnacrusha when the huge rainfall was first forecast. "I really think if the ESB gates in Ardnacrusha were opened sooner everywhere wouldn't have flooded to the same extent. Like I heard they let out 10% yesterday, why couldn't they do that before when the knew the rainfall was on the way," she concluded angrily.