{"id":272567,"date":"2026-01-30T20:57:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T20:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/272567\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T20:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T20:57:10","slug":"motorists-warned-to-avoid-enniscorthy-as-river-slaney-bursts-its-banks-with-water-levels-rising-rapidly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/272567\/","title":{"rendered":"Motorists warned to avoid Enniscorthy as River Slaney bursts its banks with water levels rising rapidly"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Wexford County Council issued an urgent warning on Friday evening advising motorists to avoid Enniscorthy town as water levels continue to rise rapidly, with conditions expected to deteriorate further over the next 24 hours. Members of the public have been urged to stay away from all flooded areas, with the council warning that floodwaters are contaminated and dangerous.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Several roads leading into Enniscorthy were reported to be gridlocked, while access to the Promenade has been closed to the public as a precaution. Residents in areas affected earlier this week have also been advised to be prepared to evacuate if conditions worsen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cRiver levels continue to rise in Co. Wexford this evening and surface water is building on all routes across the county. Motorists should avoid Enniscorthy town this afternoon as traffic is currently at a standstill,\u201d said Wexford County Council in a statement Friday evening. <\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cPlease do not to bring children anywhere near flooded areas as the water is flowing rapidly and there may be underlying manholes that have become dislodged and other debris from lands and the river. At this point, flood waters should be treated as contaminated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cOur Lady\u2019s Island Lake is currently at risk of flooding onto the road so be careful in the vicinity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cThere is a very significant risk of flooding in Enniscorthy town again tonight and over the next 24 hours. Wexford County Council teams are on site in Enniscorthy and around the county where there is an imminent risk of serious flooding and river gauges are constantly monitored.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cPlease take care on all roads, local and national, as water is accumulating in places \u2013 be especially mindful on dark or quieter roads where flooding may not be obvious,\u201d said Wexford County Council. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photo of the water level rising quickly Friday evening. Photo: Imtiaz Khan.\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/f9624bd7-efaa-4618-b0a9-a87eb158c33a.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" data-testid=\"article-image\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_caption1 indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_secondary indo-66f0fec7_regular indo-1d70522a_marginbottom0 indo-1d70522a_marginleft0 indo-1d70522a_marginright0 indo-1d70522a_margintop3 indo-b48c4984_left\" style=\"color:var(--color-grey-60)\">Photo of the water level rising quickly Friday evening. Photo: Imtiaz Khan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">The renewed flooding has forced further disruption for local businesses, including the Riverside Park Hotel, which had been due to reopen this weekend following damage sustained earlier in the week. The hotel confirmed on Friday evening that it will remain closed until further notice after floodwaters once again entered the area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">&#8220;It is with heavy hearts that we share some difficult news. In the past few minutes, the River Slaney has once again burst its banks, and it is now inevitable that the town of Enniscorthy will experience further flooding. We can only hope that the impact will not be as devastating as what occurred on Monday night,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cOur teams have been working tirelessly to clean our stores, car park, and basement, and our maintenance team has been doing everything possible to restore power to the building. It is truly heartbreaking to see how unpredictable and cruel nature can be. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances, we will NOT be able to open tomorrow, Saturday. At this time and due to unpredictability of the flooding we hope to open Sunday, but cannot confirm,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">&#8220;We had hoped the river would hold and that we would be able to reopen tomorrow. Thank you for your continued support and understanding during this challenging time. Please stay safe,\u201d the statement concluded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Local authorities continue to monitor the situation closely as rainfall persists, with further updates expected as conditions develop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wexford County Council issued an urgent warning on Friday evening advising motorists to avoid Enniscorthy town as water&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,15968,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-272567","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-rachel-cahill","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}