Rivers still badly swollen and flooding is possibleA further meeting of the National Coordination Group to discuss the on-going severe weather was held in the (NECC) National Emergency Coordination Centre today (8th February 2014) to discuss the threat posed by rising rivers, to review the response to date, to assess the impact of the storms on infrastructure and communities and to ensure that the response of relevant local authorities, Government Departments and Agencies continues to be coordinated.
The group noted that after last night’s heavy rain there are no reports of major episodes of flooding.
Met Éireann has reiterated that the current unsettled weather is likely to continue well into next , and that there will be heavy rainfall particularly in the South, South West and South East today and more over the weekend. This rain will serve to top up the already near capacity of our rivers and still poses a major risk. This risk is heightened in slow moving rivers and particularly the Shannon. The Barrow, Nore, Suir and Slaney are also at very high levels and any additional rain may cause serious flooding. There is also the possibility of stormy weather and heavy rain Wednesday.
Each storm and severe weather warning issued by Met Eireann is monitored by the Department as Lead Government Department for severe weather emergencies and contact is on-going with Met Eireann, the local authorities and the transport and energy sectors. Local Authorities are on high alert are planning and making the necessary preparations for further flooding. Currently there is a code YELLOW in operation.
The full resources of the state at both National & Local Government are available to deal with the current phase of bad weather and the National Co-ordination Group will continue to monitor the situation closely.
The group noted that the major OPW flood defences which have been put in place in some of the major urban areas such as Clonmel, Kilkenny and Mallow are working effectively to prevent flooding in these locations. The local authorities are monitoring the position in relation to river levels and the group is satisfied that where these major defences are in place that they continue to provide the necessary protection.
Minister Phil Hogan TD. is visiting Wexford and Waterford today to assess the damage in the aftermath of the recent flooding event, and Ministers Joan Burton and Jan O’Sullivan are in Limerick today,visiting local communities and reviewing the clean up operations.
The group highlighted that the emergency services, local authority workers, state agencies are on high alert and are making the necessary preparations. The group thanked businesses and the public for their hard work and patience during the recent event.
The public have been reminded to continue to follow the weather warning and to heed the safety messages of the authorities, and noted that there have been no fatalities in the current flooding episodes.
The co-ordination group continue to monitor the situation. The scheduled meeting of Government Task Force on Emergency planning will take place on Monday and a meeting of the National Co-ordination Group will take place after that.
ENDS
Additional Information
The response to all emergencies is appropriately locally-led in the first instance (by relevant local authorities in the case of severe weather). The Department of the Environment, Community & Local Government monitors the situation and determines if a Severe Weather National Co-ordination Group should be convened if certain trigger conditions are arrived at or where the local response is overwhelmed and central assistance might be required, while these triggers were not met, that National Co-ordination Group has convened, and will continue to convene to ensure that all players at government level are joined up.
The Defence Forces
The Defence Forces and the Civil Defence have already deployed personnel and equipment.
The Defence Forces and the Civil Defences are on high alert and are ready deploy staff and resources at short notice and where necessary.
Other Agencies
Other state agencies and departments who are involved in the co-ordinated response are OPW, Local Authorities, Met Eireann, An Garda Síochána, ESB, Defence Forces, Civil Defence, Departments of Environment Community & Local Government, Health and Children, Social Protection, Communications Energy & Natural Resources, Transport and Defence.
The Department of Social Protection is playing an important role in assisting households in the immediate aftermath of the recent severe weather conditions. Officials are continuing to engage with staff in the relevant local authorities and Community Welfare Service contact details are being provided to those seeking support. Exceptional Needs and Urgent Needs Payments are provided on a year-round basis by the Community Welfare Service to help customers to meet essential expenditure arising from a once-off exceptional or urgent need, and the costs of same are met from within the yearly budgetary allocation set aside for the scheme.
There is a body of information in relation to the levels of water in our major rivers on www.waterlevel.ie there is also advice on how to deal with episodes of flooding on www.flooding.ie the public are advised to check out these websites or to contact their local authority for further information.
National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management.
Department of Environment, Community and Local Government.
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