A Winter-Ready Information Campaign has been launched by Kilkenny County Council following its launch at national level recently at the National Emergency Coordination Centre in Dublin.
The leaflet was presented to the members of the county council at this month’s meeting by director of services John Mulholland.
Environment Minister Phil Hogan, Transport Minister Leo Varadkar, and Minister Alan Shatter attended the national launch in Dublin.
This is the first time that such a campaign has been undertaken and the move was taken in a bid to avoid chaos ensuing if a similar cold snap to last year’s lengthy period of inclement weather was to occur.
Advice is also being made available from a number of sources including government departments, An Garda Síochána, the Health Service Executive, local authorities and the transport providers through a dedicated website www.winterready.ie
The main objectives of the campaign are to provide practical advice to on how best to prepare for the coming winter; to ensure the public are aware of where advice and help can be found, if needed; and to reassure the public that preparations are being made and arrangements have been put in place to ensure that there will be a coordinated response to severe weather events.
The members heard this week that at present the council had access to 11 salter gritters which could double up as snow ploughs if required. The council procured several pieces of new plant equipment throughout the year in a bid to deal more efficiently with a future prolonged cold snap.
The council members also heard that the local authority had some 4k tonnes of salt available in storage in preparation for the icy roads.
A meeting will also take place this week to inform schools and other organisations about preparing for inclement weather. Water resources have also been carefully planned for, in the event of frozen pipes and lack of water reserves.
This year the council has 52 standpipes for the provision of emergency localised water services and 12 large plastic containers. There are also two 32-litre tankards. Discussions have already taken place with emergency services such as hospitals, and additional telephone lines have been installed in the emergency call centre which was established last year to deal with the public’s problems.
Mr Mulholland pointed out that the quality of the response to the winter weather has improved immeasurably this year.
Meanwhile chairman Paul Cuddihy added that it was also up to people in their own communities to help themselves.
“People who are well and able should be up and out clearing snow from their own area —the days of digging people out of snow are gone — the council cannot do everything,” he warned.
Cllr Malcolm Noonan suggested that instead of closing military barracks around the country the army should be conscripted in to take over some of the winter duties.
“The army could be an excellent support to the local authorities during hard times and I think they should be given more of a role during emergency weather conditions.”
