Fair play to Louth County Council staff and contractors who have busy all morning dealing with more than 40 trees around the county which were blown across roads by storm Debi overnight and early this morning.
Throughout Sunday (12th) the local authority monitored what was a rapidly evolving situation, with a complex storm system set to make landfall across the country in the early hours of this morning.
Met Éireann’s initial yellow weather warnings were upgraded to a status orange then RED for wind in Louth, with the final warning this morning extending the RED timeframe to between the hours of 5a.m and 9a.m.
Louth County Council put contingency arrangements in place for this period, but with the safety of all staff, including outdoors crews, paramount during severe weather events, the workforce were not mobilized until a reduced status ‘Orange’ weather warning came into effect after 9a.m. All public counters within Louth County Council buildings opened at 11am.
The full impact of Storm Debi is currently being assessed, with approximately 40 trees reported down in a range of locations across Louth. The number of incidents being reported continues to rise.
Louth County Fire and Rescue Service and crews of outdoor staff have been working, in extremely difficult conditions, to respond to reports of fallen trees as quickly and as safely as possible.
So far, there have been 25 reports of downed trees across South Louth and Mid Louth. These include Drogheda town (5), Drogheda rural (11), and 7 fallen trees in the Ardee area. One of these incidents, at Mansfieldtown, led to a temporary road closure after the falling tree collided with nearby ESB lines.
Louth County Council have utilised the resources of a specialist tree services company to assist in the removal of fallen trees and large branches, and are also using a JCB to remove debris from roads to ensure they are safe for all road users.
There have been two reports of flooding, along the R170 at Dromin, and at Sliabh Breagh, Ardee, which Louth County Council are currently responding to.
In Dundalk and north Louth there have been a further 14 incidents of fallen trees, including one close to the entrance of Louth County Hospital. Flooding was also reported on the Omeath to Newry Road.
Louth County Council are continuing to monitor and respond to reports of storm damage. Crews will continue to respond throughout today, as quickly as resources allow. Anyone wishing to report incidents should do so via email at info@louthcoco.ie
