Council crews respond to 35 fallen trees as gusts continue

STORM Isha took down 35 trees across South Dublin County, with the council predicting that this figure may rise as Storm Jocelyn gusts through.

As of Monday, South Dublin County Council crews had responded to 35 reports of fallen trees across local communities. 

The council also received reports of hoarding damaged in two locations, the Cuckoos Nest and Tallaght Village, while there was supply disruptions in Brittas on Monday due to an ESB outage, which has since been repaired.

As Storm Jocelyn continues to bring very strong and gusty southwest to west winds, the council is urging people to be aware of difficult travelling conditions and debris – and to keep up-to-date with weather alerts.

In a comment to The Echo, Teresa Walsh, the council’s Director of Service, said: “Communication with the public is a key activity for the council during these weather events.

“Social media updates to the public occurred before and during Storm Isha and updates from Met Éireann, TII [Transport Infrastructure Ireland], and other relevant bodies were reshared on the SDCC platform.”

Preparations 

Ms Walsh noted that council crews carried out works prior to the arrival of Storm Isha. 

“South Dublin County Council staff attended briefing by the Nation Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management on Sunday morning in relation to the possible impacts of Storm Isha”, she said.

“South Dublin County Council’s Severe Weather Assessment Team (SWAT) met to review preparations for the anticipated high winds and rain of Storm Isha.

“The SWAT meeting brings together key staff from across the council to co-ordinate works that need to be done before, during and after the storm event.

“Representative from Roads, Public Realm, Drainage, Community and Housing and the Communication Section attend the SWAT meeting.”

Ms Walsh added: “Works were carried out prior to Storm Isha to prepare the county for the event and the high wind and rain with fallen debris and flooding conditions.

“Trash screens on the rivers and streams particularly at culverts were checked and cleared of any debris.

“The council had crews available over the weekend to attend to any incidents.”

According to Met Eireann, which has issued Orange and Yellow wind warnings, today will be wet and windy as Storm Jocelyn tracks to the northwest of Ireland.

Strong and gusty winds will develop throughout the day, with winds forecast to ease overnight.

Keep up-to-date on weather alerts through the Met Eireann website or on Twitter Met Eireann and South Dublin County Council.