Emergency plan in place by council for Christmas period

SNOW is everywhere this past week, and South Dublin County Council has detailed its winter maintenance plan which is aimed at keeping the near 450km of roads open over the Christmas period.

There is also a flood emergency plan and severe weather plan which outlines the mobilisation procedures and protocols for responding to the varied challenges presented by Irish winter.

In the event of a Status Orange (or above) weather warning, the council’s Severe Weather Assessment Team (SWAT) meets to assess the preparedness for the given weather event.

An emergency service is provided for members of the public seeking urgent assistance by the council at 01 457 4907.

Maintenance crews are already established to deal with any emergencies over the Christmas period.

The winter maintenance plan for roads includes salt gritting of 300km of primary and secondary routes to aid in safe travel during icy conditions.

In severe weather events such as what was experienced this week, the priority of the council is to treat the 300km of national, regional and local primary roads.

Once this network has been treated, the authority targets the local distributor network areas near schools and community amenities, which is around 150km of additional roads.

Additionally, salt storage bins can be found in strategic local locations where conditions have been icy in previous years and where gritting is impractical.

These rock salt storage bins are provided at 56 locations around the county with the goal of enabling residents to spread salt on these particularly problematic areas, such as sharp inclines.

When there is severe adverse weather, South Dublin County Council offers regular updates through its website and social media accounts.

Winter Ready information is available on both South Dublin County Council’s website and the national website, where useful guidance is provided for members of the public in dealing with adverse weather conditions.