Clean-up continues as Laois recovers from devastating storm

LAOIS is slowly recovering from the havoc of record-breaking Storm Éowyn, which raged across the county leaving a trail of destruction on Friday.

More than 50 roads across the county were blocked by toppled trees and debris, about 15,000 customers were left without electricity and thousands of residents and businesses had no water supply.

As the clean-up continues this week, Laois County Council has opened a Community Response Support Helpline on 057 8689301 for anyone who needs assistance following the storm. People can also email incidents@laoiscoco.ie for support.

The lights were on at 5am at county hall in Portlaoise on Friday, as the council’s Severe Weather Coordination Group (SWCG) gathered to manage the response to a dangerous Status Red weather alert. The council’s Severe Weather Hotline went live at 5.30am and operated right up to 5pm, as staff dealt with a high volume of calls reporting hazardous incidents across the county.

While emergency crews worked tirelessly to deal with the storm’s devastating impact, community spirit was also to the fore as community centres and businesses offered help to those in need. Among them was Castletown Community Centre, which opened its doors from 7pm on Friday to provide hot drinks, phone charging, power banks and laptops, water supplies and a cosy space to warm up.

Retail outlets offering help included SuperValu stores in Portlaoise, Abbeyleix and Rathdowney, which provided hot water for baby bottles, phone charging and other services.

Emergency teams ranging from the fire and rescue service to gardaí, county council road crews and Laois Civil Defence mobilised immediately after the red warning was lifted at 11am, as they worked to clear trees and other obstacles that brought many routes to a standstill.

Impassable roads included the important N80 route, which was blocked near the Windy Gap south of Stradbally, in the north near Mountmellick and in Ballymooney near Portlaoise. Other routes blocked by fallen trees ranged from the N77 at Grallow, Abbeyleix to the R428 near Castlemitchell, the N78 and the R422 near Killeen.

ESB Networks staff were also involved as emergency teams worked quickly to deal with dangerous fallen trees, power cables and telecoms infrastructure, as well as debris on streets, roads and footpaths.

By 2pm on Friday, the N80 through Laois was clear from the Offaly border to the Carlow border. By 3.30pm, 40 roads around the county had been cleared and all main routes were passable. By 5pm, 42 fallen trees had been cleared by the fire service, while a further 12 remained to be cleared.

Work by council crews to tackle serious storm damage continued throughout the weekend, together with salting operations on priority routes.

According to ESB Networks, severe storm damage and fallen power cables saw about 15,000 properties in Laois without electricity. Power cuts affected towns, villages and rural areas across the county, including Portlaoise, Abbeyleix, Ballinakill, Portarlington, Mountmellick, Mountrath, Stradbally, Timahoe, Ballyadams, Killeshin, The Heath and Ballybrittas.

Meanwhile, power outages at treatment plants and pumping stations cut water supplies in areas that included Mountmellick, parts of Portarlington and Derrymoyle in Graiguecullen.

Uisce Éireann said that repair crews worked around the clock to restore water services, but it could be some days before full supply is restored everywhere, given the extent of storm damage. ESB Networks also warned that some areas could be left without power until the end of this week, although electricity was restored to the majority of properties by Monday.

Laois Civil Defence volunteers set up six temporary emergency rest centres across the county, as well as providing assistance to the co-ordination centre in Portlaoise.

Gardaí said they are not aware of any major incidents or injuries in the county during the storm, probably because people were well prepared and listened to the warnings and advice issued in advance of Storm Éowyn The Laois SWCG was chaired by county council chief executive Michael Rainey, supported by directors of services and council teams, a representative from An Garda Síochána and the HSE, with other staff working remotely. Chief fire officer Declan Power and a senior roads engineer were in constant contact with crews to manage the onsite response.

A digital logging system received and recorded calls from the public, while the group liaised with the National Emergency Coordination Group (NECG), gardaí, HSE, Uisce Éireann and ESB Networks throughout the emergency.

After the Laois SWCG was stood down, the council thanked all emergency crews, staff, volunteers and the public for their invaluable assistance during Storm Éowyn, which helped to ensure the safety of people all over the county.