‘Please God, the new embankment will work for everyone in Springfield’

Dan Danaher hears the stories of Springfield residents hoping the new flood protection works will protect them

A SPRINGFIELD resident was forced to pay €3,500 for her car insurance premium after her car was extensively damaged by flood waters last year.
Liz Hogan recalled the flood water had dropped that day and her neighbour had got back into her house when the incident took place .
However, when Liz returned with her car the water had risen again very quickly within two hours and ruined her vehicle, which resulted in her car insurance premium sky rocketing.
Her family of six have been forced to split up and live in different homes during repeated flooding in Springfield.
Michael and Liz Hogan live near the top of a cul-de-sac road, which gets flooded, cutting off access to their private dwelling for weeks.
“When we see the water coming, it is a case of pack up and find somewhere to go. We have four kids so we need to separate. We have been living in hell for the last 20 years.
“Our main problem is trying to get access to the house when we are completely surrounded in water. We are always the first to leave our house during the flooding because our access is gone.
“It is not good for health reasons. Michael got blood poisoning from flood water years ago.
I need access to hospital for specific reasons so we can’t stay in the house during flooding.
“When the children were younger they wanted to know where was Santa going to meet us this time on Christmas Eve.”
Liz said they were relieved work had started after so many promises over the last 20 years.
When there was a delay in starting the work last May she wondered if work would actually ever start.
She paid tribute to Geraldine Quinlivan and other residents who campaigned tirelessly over the years for the new embankment.
“All the community and neighbours rallied together during the flooding. Farmers helped us to get out and back in when we had no one helping us.
In an interview with the Clare Champion, she admitted she was worried the flood protection scheme would never happen because of so many false promises.
“Please god, the new embankment will work for everyone in Springfield and keep water off our road.
She believes if water was released earlier and slower by the ESB, it would make a big difference in terms of Springfield flooding.

Twelve years without flood risk insurance for home

TWELVE years have passed since John and Geraldine Mason had flood risk insurance cover after their house was flooded in 2009.
When water entered their rural dwelling it destroyed all their timber floors, which resulted in new tiles being placed on concrete floors.
The couple spent about €10,000 building a new five foot flood protection boundary wall around their home after the 2015 flooding.
Despite this construction, flood water bubbled up under pea gravel inside this boundary wall last year.
Geraldine recalled she left the house for a week when the flooding started in 2020.
“It was too awkward to get in and out of the house with the flood water once it comes in the front gate. The emotional strain of flooding is unreal. You can’t sleep at night. Once the water comes in the front garden, I leave and stay with my sister.
“When I was in the house I was up during the night with a torch checking the water levels. In 2015, the flood water was coming up through the drains. We had to put a sandbag in the toilet.”
She recalled last year their front lawn was left in an awful state after the flooding.
“You would think the garden was ploughed, there was no grass on it. Only for the boundary wall, our house could have flooded last year.
“Since 2009 politicians have been back and forth to us. In 2015, we thought they would do something before the General Election, but when the flood left, they left.
“The longer the delay went on there was a danger it wouldn’t go ahead because of work that was needed in another part of the country.
“I think Minister of State, Patrick O’Donovan is doing great work.”
Geraldine Mason said they were delighted to hear that work had started on the long awaited flood mitigation works after so many false dawns.
John stayed to keep the water out with the help of friends and the Irish Defence Forces at night.
“There is constant pressure. You are wondering is it today or tomorrow the house will get flooded. Sandbags are ok for a few days but the bottom gets soaked and you have to get more. You could need up to 50 sandbags a day plugging holes.”
Their house was first flooded while it was under construction. This was also the first time his mother’s house next door flooded. John recalled there was two feet of water inside his mother’s house.
Previously, Geraldine was on flood alert from November 15 to February 15. However, the last flooding incident occurred at the end of February, 2020 and the start of March.
While John is delighted to see work starting, he pointed out the new embankment will not be properly tested until the next flood event after it is fully completed.
He said the old River Shannon is not able for the amount of water that is coming down and needs to be cleaned and maintained.

‘If you sleep for an hour, you wake with a shock’

ON New Year’s Day in 2016, members of the Irish Army woke Barry O’Sullivan and Lisa Griffin at 1.20am and told them to turn on their water pumps because “water was flowing in the driveway”.
The couple had just purchased their dwelling from Lisa’s parents four months earlier.
They had to move their cars, and two hours later flood water had risen two feet outside their house.
Flooding started in December 2015, it subsided somewhat around Christmas and returned again in the New Year.
Lisa recalled there was flooding in 2010 when she was living in it with her parents before they sold it to them five years later.
Last year, flood water came around the side of the house, measuring about eight inches in depth.
Barry recalled the flooding was bad in 2015 and rose as high as two feet around the perimeter of the house.
“We built a moat at the edge of the footpath the whole way around the house. We had eight or nine pumps pumping water that was coming through sandbags back out.
“Eventually sandbags become so saturated water seeps through them. It was devastating. You can’t really sleep. If you sleep for an hour, you wake with a shock.
“It is great to see the work is starting. There have been a lot of promises from politicians over the years. Simon Coveney stood in our driveway six years ago and said there was an onus on the government to help us out. There was a General Election around the corner.
“We had to endure six more winters of wondering when flooding was going to happen again. We thought we were out of the woods in February 2020, but then the flooding hit us the following month.
“You are constantly on the look out for the weather. We have flood insurance, but you wonder will the insurance company pay out if something drastic happens.”
Lisa recalled they had to take time off work to stay up and monitor water levels to protect their home.
Barry pointed out they put house renovations on hold because there was no point in spending a lot of money if the house got flooded.
“Now we can plan and renovate. When I saw flooding on the news before I came to Springfield, it would go out of your mind. However, when you are living with flooding, it is constantly on your mind.
While some people are quick to judge, Lisa pointed out their locality was never a flood plain.
“My father is a blocklayer and he wouldn’t willingly build on a flood plain. My parents were living in the house since the eighties and the house didn’t flood until 2010.
“I was pregnant last year during the flooding. It was so hard because Ella was only two years old. We had to park the car up the road because of the flooding.”
Barry praised Clare County Council and, in particular, engineer, Declan Flanagan, who ensured every affected house had heavy duty water pumps and generators.
Their neighbour, Bridget Kinsella is also delighted that work has started on the new flood embankment.
Water has surrounded the house on a number of occasions over the last decade. They have been forced to sandbag their house and have pumps on standby to ensure water didn’t enter their dwelling.
“Flooding is always a worry every year once the fields start to flood. There were a number of years where the flooding was scary and you wouldn’t have any comfort going anywhere during the winter.
“It devalues your home because who will buy it when it is surrounded by water. Now people will have the option to sell. I hope the new embankment will not divert the water and cause problems for other residents.”