The local authority received 300 calls in relation to flooding caused by Storm Chandra
Average rainfall in excess of 500% above norm as 300 calls received due to flooding
“The weekly average rainfall in the Dublin area was in excess of 500 per cent of the average norm.”
Over 300 calls were made to the local council in relation to flooding caused by Storm Chandra in areas such as Rathfarnham and Clondalkin.
South Dublin County Council received 337 calls relating to Storm Chandra and the impacts over the course of 11 days inclusive from Tuesday, January 27 to Friday, February 6.
Almost 3,000 sandbags were distributed to homes and businesses in the county to help prevent further damage caused by the flooding.
Approximately 850 were placed along the Whitechurch stream where flood alleviation scheme works are ongoing.
The Severe Weather Assessment Team (SWAT) were mobilised throughout the response as flooding occurred across the county, especially affecting parts of Rathfarnham.
SDCC implemented the Severe Weather Incident Tracker to expediate the response to reported incidents during the day and facilitate communication between departments.
Calls that reported flooding incidents began as early as 1:30am on Tuesday, January 27 and the majority of the 52 calls made in relation to flooding came from affected areas in Rathfarnham.
The River Dodder and the River Dargle had both burst their banks due to the flooding and this had affected many parts of the South Dublin village.
Grange Park, Dodder Park Road and Woodview were among the locations attended to in Rathfarnham by SDCC crew members.
Grange Park received 462 sandbags over the course of the response to the flooding – the most of any single location.
The local authority also cooperated with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown to carry out alleviation works in Nutgrove after heavy flooding occurred there.
A call was received from Clondalkin in relation to flooding on the Upper Nangor Road – calls were also made to SDCC from Lucan, Knocklyon, Templeogue and Glenasmole.
A social media campaign was utilised to effectively spread information throughout Storm Chandra and over 900,000 people viewed posts across three platforms – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Ongoing rainfall warnings and flooding alerts were communicated until Friday, February 6.
SDCC Parks such as Tymon Park and Corkagh Park were closed to the public on Thursday, February 5 because of an orange rainfall alert.
The Natural Water and Climate Action departments will investigate what happened and what can be done to adapt and prevent further flood damage on the scale Storm Chandra had caused.
The local authority pointed out some successes in their post-mortem of events – the River Poddle Flood Alleviation Scheme helped to prevent flooding in Kimmage and Harold’s Cross and the flood attenuation area in Tymon Park mitigated impacts downstream.
An overall review of SDCC’s flood risk management and emergency response will be undertaken in the next month to identify any necessary improvements, and a report will be provided to the local authority following an assessment on the Whitechurch Flood Alleviation Scheme.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
