BREAKING: Finally some good news on flooding levels

The River Shannon level in Athlone has started to fall slightly, but Westmeath County Council has warned that the rate of decline will remain very slow.

The council, in a statement today, said the Shannon level was now back to the maximum level recorded in 2009.

According to OPW figures, the water level south of Athlone weir at lunchtime today was roughly 39.08m above Poolbeg datum.
This equates to a roughly 2.5 to 3cms drop from the very peak of the water levels earlier this week.

Westmeath County Council said: “It is expected that this trend will continue over the foreseeable future but the rate of decline in the level of the river will be very slow at about 2cm per day.”

However, the council warned that while the flood defences around Athlone had withstood the new record water levels, “the challenge now is to maintain these defences and associated pumping infrastructure for a number of weeks while the water drains away”.

Transport services to the flooded rural areas to the south of Athlone will continue for as long as these are required and this service is available to bring children to school and to bring other residents to Athlone.

Meanwhile, the ESB advised today that the flow of water through Parteen Weir will remain at 470 cumecs (cubic metres per second). The situation will be reviewed again tomorrow.