This article is from page 12 of the 2006-09-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
THE crew of a transport lorry was left stranded for over six hours after their vehicle became bogged down in flood waters in Clare last Friday.
The driver and his colleague, who were delivering Guinness kegs to pubs and hotels in the north Clare area, were plucked to safety by a good Samaritan truck driver, who steered his heavy vehicle through more than five feet of water. The men jumped onto the front of the second truck which carried them back to dry land.
The drama began at 7am on Friday as the Guinness lorry, operated by a contractor on behalf of the drinks’ company, was making deliveries in the north of the county. Following overnight heavy rain, low lying fields flooded the R476 road at Lemenagh Castle near Kilnaboy.
Truck driver Ray Collins from Limerick explained, “There was a sign back the road which said the road ahead was flooded. When we got there, another truck drove through no problem, but as we were almost through, the truck just stopped”.
Mr Collins and his colleague Gary Shinners, also from Limerick, had to jump onto the rear of their vehicle when the cab began to flood.
“It looked very deceiving. Before we knew it we were in six feet of water. We called the company to let them know what was happening. When the felt the water at our feet in the cab, it was time to get out. We climbed onto the trailer were we stayed. It was too deep to dry and walk out. We weren’t in any danger, but all the time we were there, only one person actually asked if we were alright, or if we needed a phone.”
At around 1.30pm, a passing truck driver offered to help and drove his vehicle into the floodwaters. As his truck came nose-to-nose with the stranded Guinness lorry, Mr Collins and Mr Shinners jumped onto the front of the vehicle and were taken to safety.
“There was no sign of the water going down and if it got any higher, we were going to use the barrels to try and get out,” Mr Collins said.
It was late on Friday evening when the stranded lorry was eventually towed from the flood waters. The Corofin to Lemenagh Castle road remained closed for two days.