A team of 12 officials spread themselves between City Hall and a conference suite donated by the Galmont Hotel – buildings both served by emergency generators – to coordinate more than 70 emergency staff on the ground around the city. Others worked remotely to respond to issues as they arose, and coordinate with blue light services.
The atmosphere was described as “adrenalin fuelled, but everyone keeping their heads” by one attendee, who said the overriding motivation was protection of life amongst experienced officials who regularly role-play emergency scenarios.
“Prior to the storm, during the weather event, and since, Galway City Council worked closely with our colleagues in the Fire Service, An Garda Siochána, the HSE, Port of Galway, Civil Defence and Galway County Council, as we do with every severe weather event,” said a spokeswoman.
Following risk assessments according to local authority severe weather procedures, around 30 roads staff, 20 members of the parks team, and 20 outdoor staff from the city’s environment department backed up by 12 private contractors, were out on foot and in vehicles last Friday, to respond to 400 reported incidents around the city. Scores of private citizens assisted.
By Sunday evening, the majority of city roads and footpaths were cleared of a forest of fallen trees.
“They’re still at it now,” said Galway City’s Director of Services, Patrick Greene, at time of going to press, who added that planning for the storm began last Monday. “They’re tired now, but they’ll be at it until the end of the week, and then the big clean-up begins... From the IT and comms set-up to keep us connected, to the lads on the ground, this was all of us, the whole local authority, working as one cohesive unit. Everything that was asked of them, they did. This was – in my opinion – public service at its best.”
The city’s Crisis Management Team is ran by the council’s senior management team, and its Emergency Coordination Team is overseen by senior engineer Fiona Holland. City manager Leonard Cleary and Patrick Greene linked in with the National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG ) in Dublin, which at times last week had 500 participants from all state agencies.
More than 400 incidents were formally reported to Galway City Council via the combined local authorities’ out-of-hours call centre in Cork during and immediately after Storm Éowyn. Many more were reported by city councillors, or informally through other channels. These were logged in Galway, triaged by an engineer, assessed on the ground, prioritised, and then had resources such as specialist machinery allocated.
These 400 Storm Éowyn incidents were mostly tree fall-related, property damage reports, and concerns about utility poles and traffic lights.
The City Council said it made “Temporary Shelter” available for families residing in halting sites before the storm hit. It liaised with other agencies regarding people sleeping rough. A spokeswoman said any households still without water are invited to use shower facilities in community centres in Knocknacarra, Westside and Renmore, where opening hours have been extended until this Sunday.
Incidents can continue to be reported to Galway City Council by calling 091 536 400 or email Customerservice@galwaycity.ie
