Parts of North Tipperary 'were like Siberia'

1,100km of Tipperary's 5,800kms of roads were treated during the recent winter cold snap, which caused serious disruption to traffic across the county for almost a week.

The cost of treating the designated salting routes was approximately €1-million - consuming the entire winter roads maintenance fund available to the local authority to keep the main traffic routes moving.

The mountainous areas of North Tipperary around Kilcommon and the Silvermines region were described by one member of Tipperary County Council as resembling Siberia during their monthly meeting in Nenagh on Monday, where people were restricted to their homes as roads became compacted with snow and ice from Monday to Friday of last week.

Occurring early in the winter storm period, in the second week of January, leaves plenty of time for a similar weather event to be repeated soon this year and with the local authority's winter maintenance fund depleted, there are concerns for the remaining winter months.

Tipperary's emergency services had attended over 60 calls by midday on Tuesday of last week and the number of calls reduced towards the end of the event by Friday and the local authority's salting crews kept Tipperary's large and diverse treated network, for the most part, open or passable throughout the event.

In contrast the national motorway network struggled on Sunday and Monday and was closed at times.

Tipperary's farming community played a major role in keeping things moving on the roads and many farmers and contractors put their own machinery to work, at their own cost, to clear the roads in their own and neighbouring communities.

LESSONS LEARNED

Debating the issue on Monday, the members of Tipperary County Council resolved to act on several proposals to assist local communities to better cope with a similar weather event in the future - key among them being the provision of salt bunkers in housing estates and town centres to provide materials to clear footpaths, carparks and lesser used roads into housing estates.

“The rural roads were neglected and some people in rural areas felt let down”, Cllr. Maureen McGrath told the meeting.

“If it wasn't for the agricultural community who came out in force rural roads would have been impassable. Rural areas deserve an equal service and didn't get it”, Cllr. McGrath added.

Cllr. Míchael Anglim said parts of the mountainous areas, particularly around Upperchurch and Kilcommon, “were like Siberia” and very challenging for residents.

“Mother Nature is a vicious force at times” Cllr. Anglim said and suggested the Council should invest in better snowploughs and equipment and to “think outside the box”.

Cllr. Pamela Quirke O'Meara said her area around Templederry and the Silvermines “was very hard hit” and local farmers kept the roads open and passable.

“The next crisis will be the condition of the roads after this weather event”, she added.

Cllr. Seamie Morris applauded the Council's outdoor staff, who he said were working 24-hours a day.

“The county wasn't prepared for it - I'm a postman and the footpaths were extremely dangerous. We need to put salt bins in place for communities and people need to clear the front of their own properties, which is the norm in every other country”,

Cllr. Morris said, adding that the local authority needs more manpower in the outdoor staff.

Cllr. Phyll Bugler told the meeting that neighbours Clare County Council distributed salt bins and highlighted “fears among local people when it comes to insurance” in the context of working on clearing public areas.

Cllr. David Dunne told the meeting there needs to be more clarity about which contractors were paid by the Council to clear the roads and who worked voluntarily.

“Many people, who at their own expense cleared areas, are left with a sour taste in their mouth” over the issue he said, adding that the defence forces should have been called to assist in Tipperary.

Cllr. Sean Ryan said “numerous lessons have been learned” during the weather event and that when a major event is forecasted there needs to be additional roads included on the list salted by the Council.

“We need a policy enabling farmers to be good Samaritans and give them the resources to help”, Cllr. Ryan said.

“Severe weather events are going to become a lot more common and we need to learn some leassons from this”, Cllr. Jim Ryan said.

“It is very traumatising for people in rural areas who can't get out of their house - salt bunkers for people to use would take a huge amount of pressure off the Council”, he said.

ROAD PRIORITIES

Director of Services for the local authority, Liam Brett, told the meeting the county just experienced “the most impactful weather event in seven years” which caused significant difficulties throughout the week.

“We successfully kept the main arterial routes open throughout, which is the main priority because without that food can't get to shops if they're not open”, Mr. Brett said.

“We had €1-million available for winter roads maintenance and have now spent €1-million on this event”, Mr. Brett said, adding that the roads will have suffered extensive damage after the event and will require additional repair funding.

CEO, Sinead Carr, told the meeting that orange weather warnings are “going to be more irregularly regular” and individuals and communities need to heed them and prepare.

“We weren't caught unawares in Tipperary and were prepared with a plan and system that worked. We maxed-out our own resources and took on external contractors that were paid.

“We cannot just ask people to go out and do work - our health and safety systems have to be observed”, the CEO said, adding that salt bunkers can be provided, but the members will have to budget for them.

“We need to better manage expectations and community resilience is key and we need to work to enable communities to build resilience”, the CEO said and thanked the communities who helped their neighbours and prepared themselves ahead of the orange weather warnings.