Water levels still rising as Army helps tackle flood threat

Water levels on the Shannon in Athlone have risen by approximately 70mm in the last 24 hours, as a massive effort from local residents and agencies to combat the flooding threat continues.

In a statement issued at 12.30pm today (Wednesday), Westmeath County Council said it was continuing to monitor the situation and that 'to date, no houses have been flooded' in the town.

The Defence Forces is helping with the flood prevention effort. A platoon of 25 troops and 4 Troop Carrying Vehicles is providing assistance to the local authority.

In its statement today, the council said it was 'expecting an updated river level forecast from the ESB later today, and this will inform the multi-agency response on the ground.'

The council has activated its Flood Emergency Response Plan and a meeting of the interagency Response Committee is being held each day at 11am.

'At today’s meeting, chaired by Westmeath County Council and attended by representatives of An Garda Siochána, Irish Water, the Defence Forces and the HSE, it was agreed that the agencies would continue to assist people to protect their homes and businesses, to provide transport where this is required and to provide other humanitarian assistance.

'A further update will issue later today, when the ESB forecast for the next five days has been received,' the statement said.