The Flooding of Clonown

10/1/00

I live in Carricknaughton, a townland which is between Athlone and Clonown. We live on top of a hill beside two other houses. My house is a dormer because last year my dad renovated it.

In winter sometimes the flood from the River Shannon creeps up all around the hill and it looks like a little island. There are three roads to Carricknaughton but the roads are all flooded.

In December the flood was all around us for three weeks. The first week there was eighteen inches of water on the road.

A council truck slowly brought us out to our cars that were parked on dry land. It was hard for old and young people to get up on the truck.

The second week we were given waders from the council to wade through but some families still used the council truck because they had young children.

The third week some people went to relations’ houses and some struggled to get in and out of their houses.

This is a picture of Tracey’s family wading through the flood in 1991