Fire service deals with isolated flooding

Firefighters and Meath County Council workers throughout the county battled over the weekend to keep flood waters at bay following torrential rain which started on Thursday evening. However, the county was spared the wholesale destruction wrought on areas of the south and west of the country. In Mornington, where houses have been flooded during heavy rain in the past, council workers pumped water from the river at Mornington Bridge to reduce water levels upstream of the bridge to ensure there was no flooding in the Mornington area. The Obelisk Bridge at Oldbridge was closed over the weekend due to road flooding and Slane pumping station was under water since Friday and a 'boil water' notice was publicised in relation to water supply in Slane, Beauparc, Yellow Furze, Stackallen and Dowth. Firemen in Navan pumped water from Academy Street and on the Commons Road throughout Thursday night, keeping floodwaters at bay, while the same night, Kells firefighters pumped water from the N3 at Carnaross and Kells Business Park, and firemen also pumped water from the roadway near Colaiste Pobail in Rath Cairn. Also on Thusday night, council staff removed fallen trees from the road at Tankardstown and Kentstown. Cllr Suzanne Jamal has demanded that Meath County Council take immediate measures in terms of planning to prevent flooding in future. "Meath has been relatively lucky this week compared with other parts of the country, but there is absolutely no room for complacency. We flood because we simply have no effective plans to prevent flooding and make no proper attempt to allow for the effects of development and modern agriculture," she said. She said it wasn't completely true to say that flooding in recent years was as a result of global warming as it is evident that many of the flooding incidents were caused by rain within normal range of the country's rainfall, though global warming may have played a minor contributory role. "We need to learn lessons here that more heavy infrastructure and huge investment will be required to alleviate future flooding, No area in Meath's flat landscape should be considered flood-proof and surveys of the whole country should be carried out on an urgent basis and steps taken to ensure drainage, reinforce river banks and restore space in our landscape to store rainfall," she added. "We, at the same time, have to bear in mind the need for good engineering expertise here as sometimes expenditure on downstream flood defences and attempts to improve drainage without much thought put into it, can make matters worse and conventional flood defences just displace flooding rather than prevent it," she went on. Cllr Jamal urged Meath County Council to look out for the funding promised by the Minister for the Environment which is likely to be in the region of €50 million a year for the whole country. "This amount is not going to be sufficient, but we need to make sure that Meath should get its fair share of investment in flood prevention, keeping in mind its size, population, flat landscape and the presence of the River Boyne." She urged the public to identify potential problems and bring them to the attention of Meath County Council. "I also advise everybody to double-check their level of insurance cover and be watchful of their elderly neighbour's houses and those who have gone on holidays or have a house not in constant use," she said.