Families evacuated as Kildare waters rise
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Monday November 30 2009
UP to 250 people were evacuated from an apartment block in a busy commuter town yesterday as floods hit Co Kildare.
In Sallins, families and residents in 100 homes at The Waterways had to be rescued by boat.
Some of the apartments were up to five feet deep in water and residents were being accommodated by family and friends last night.
In Clane, also in north Kildare, the Butterstream, a tributary of the Liffey, overflowed and stopped just short of a private nursing home where 34 elderly people had to be rescued.
Among the residents taken from the Hazel Hall nursing home was a 101-year-old woman.
Residents were transferred by ambulances to another nursing home after floods hit.
"HSE ambulances assisted by gardai, Order of Malta, the Irish Red Cross, Civil Defence and many local volunteers all aided in the effort and all of our residents were successfully transferred to the unoccupied nursing home in Kilcock," a spokesman for the HSE said.
He said the elderly residents were taken to the Mountpleasant Lodge in Kilcock as a precautionary measure.
It is understood 12 families in the Lough Ballard estate in Clane were flooded. Sewers overflowed and waste water entered some of the homes.
Meanwhile, 20 families in Butterstream Lawns in Clane were also evacuated.
The ESB had been releasing water from its dam in Leixlip on the River Liffey after it issued a flood alert in Co Kildare yesterday afternoon.
It took the action to relieve flooding in the county.
The ESB operates three dams on the River Liffey -- at the Poulaphouca Reservoir in Co Wicklow, at Golden Falls and at Leixlip.
But water was not being discharged from Golden Falls Dam at Ballymore Eustace yesterday.
A spokesman for the ESB said water from the Wicklow mountains was being held at the Golden Falls Dam, and it lowered the level of the water at Leixlip following the rain.
There was also flooding in Athy, Naas and Newbridge along the rivers Barrow and Liffey.
Impassable
A spokesman for Kildare County Council said the Army, Dublin Civil Defence and the Fire Service helped the council to distribute sandbags.
He said that the M4 near Maynooth and Kilcock might have to be closed, many minor roads are impassable and people should avoid travelling unless necessary.
Kildare Road safety officer Declan Keogh urged drivers not to attempt driving through a flood, as some floods were much deeper than they initially appeared.
"Many drivers take a chance by attempting to drive through a flood only to find that the flood is far deeper than what they had estimated.
"This can lead to motorists and their passengers being stranded and (placed) in danger," he said.
- Niamh O'Donoghue
Irish Independent
