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HOUSEHOLDERS IN LIMERICK ended up in emergency accommodation after major flooding damaged their homes, destroyed belongings and eventually left a foot-wide sinkhole on their street.
The incident happened at Bengal Terrace in the south-east of the city when a large water main burst in the early hours of the morning on Saturday 15 July, affecting 11 homes.
The flooding was so severe that a number of families were forced into emergency accommodation for three weeks, while others remained living in the upstairs of their damaged homes.
About two weeks after the flooding, a sinkhole measuring about one foot wide appeared at the end of the road, which is on a hill. The hole caused some damage to the road surface, but it’s unclear what damage was done underground.
A local resident posted images of the road damage on Facebook, saying:
“When the water main burst, a high volume of water travelled underground and downhill toward the bottom of Bengal Terrace and onto the Childers Road.
This is the only sinkhole at the moment but the chances of another one developing or having already developed underground is very high.
The sinkhole has since been filled in by Limerick City & County Council.
Another local resident, Colm McCarthy, who lives with his wife and two-year-old daughter, was forced to move into emergency accommodation after his hallway and sitting room flooded after the water main burst.
“My neighbour came kicking on the door, trying to get us up. I didn’t know what was going on,” McCarthy told TheJournal.ie.
I went downstairs and I automatically opened the door. I didn’t realise I was standing ankle-deep in water.
When I opened the door some more came into the sitting room and hallway.
Emergency services responded immediately when they became aware of the issue and the leak was shut off within two hours, according to Irish Water.
McCarthy described the scene on the road the night of the incident:
There was a good three hours that the place was covered in water. There was faeces and toilet paper along sections of the road.
Limerick Council provided three nights of emergency accommodation for the family. After that, Irish Water paid for the McCarthy family to stay in a holiday home for three weeks.
The family are now back living out of the upstairs of their home.
“There’s an awful smell in the house. My daughter was two on Saturday but we ended up spending the day out of the house because we couldn’t stay there,” McCarthy said.
He expressed his concern about the possibility of further flooding and sinkhole damage, and said the pipe that burst had been laid in 1970.
If one section was going to go, the rest of it could easily go. They just fixed the one part of the pipe and left it at that.
A spokesperson for Irish Water said that it “continues to engage directly with the affected families to offer practical support [...] the details of which remain confidential between Irish Water and the individuals concerned”.
In relation to the sinkhole, Irish Water said:
Responsibility for road maintenance lies with Limerick City & County Council.
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Why is news from 15th July and 2nd August making headlines on August 11th?
@Sorcha Ní Shúilleabháin: the journal are good like that. They republish stories in case you miss it the first time, and the second time …
@Dara Smith: How’s young halawa these days I wonder?
@Liam flag:
Don’t encourage them.
Awfull lot of burst pipes since they decided people should be payed back…… I’m sure it’s just a coincidence tho
Sink hole?? It’s barely a pothole.
@David: Fishing for international news googles.
Sink hole??? I’ve seen bigger holes walking down O’Connoll street
Elsewhere in the country people are lying on trolleys in their hundreds awaiting medical attention, hundreds of families are homeless, thousands of parents are trying to get enough money to send their children back to school in a few weeks. Despite this the Journal publishes a news item a month old that is so minor as to be laughable. Well done!
@John Campbell: don’t read it then you phleb. My god im sick of the ” wow this story is weeks old” bullshit. Take your profile down and stop fishing for likes you sad Idiot.
@John Campbell: thanks for that insightful shite talk john. Proper idiot
IW “continues to engage directly with the affected families to offer practical support… The details of which remain confidential between Irish Water and the individuals concerned”
I really would love to know what this practical support consists of. Maybe the Journal could do some investigative journalism and contact some of these residents?
Is the journal starting to do RTE,s job in pushing for water charges.politicians in Leinster house, councillors,for the last 30 yrs are the blame,no one else?
@@mdmak33: It seems so. Imagine all through the boom when there was plenty of money to repair the infrastructure that local councillors decided to spend nothing. It’s an amazing oversight.
Funny since IW was set up these stories are big news now..
Didn’t notice he was ankle deep in water? That just isn’t believable, the noise would be noticible let alone the cold and affect on movement.
@Kal Ipers: No. I’ve been in a flooded house. It’s perfectly possible for a very short time.
Nobody seemed concerned about asbestos lying about ? Supposed to be handled and disposed of by specialist contractors
Sink hole fail.
HAYLEY, WHY IS THIS BEING “REPORTED” A MONTH AFTER IT HAPPENED?
It’s a pothole FFS
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