Local authorities in counties Carlow and Kilkenny have established emergency teams to deal with the current bad weather conditions after fresh snow fell this morning in one of the worst hit parts of the country.
The emergency teams will coordinate the activities of council staff, gardaí, the HSE, Fire & Rescue services and the Civil Defence. The army is “on standby” in both counties.
Kilkenny local authorities have established an emergency centre “to assist where emergency humanitarian assistance is required” and said people who were “snow-bound” who need medical attention or who have no water, fuel or food should contact the centre on telephone number 056-779-4145.
Kilkenny County Council said “a major issue” affecting householders was “frozen pipes including central heating” and “burst pipes”.
Local authorities have opened emergency standpipes at seven locations throughout the county to provide water to householders whose supply has been disrupted during the freezing conditions.
A spokesman said that the public can collect supplies at seven fire stations which will remain open until midnight.
County manager Joe Crockett said the council’s emergency centre helpline was receiving “about 100 calls an hour and 80 per cent were from households with no water supply or whose central heating systems had broken down”.
Carlow County Council appealed to the public to restrict the use of water “as much as possible” because demand has “sharply increased” and there has been “a steady reduction in the overall levels of reservoirs across the county despite all water treatment plants running at full capacity”.
The council said it “will be reducing pressures throughout the water distribution system in order to conserve supplies and build up reservoir levels”.
They say this may result in “a loss of supply to some areas for short periods of time”. Its emergency number is 1890-500-333.
Following a meeting of emergency services personnel earlier today the council also announced it has “sufficient resources of road salt to apply to all national primary and secondary roads in the county for the next three days” .
Unsalted grit is now being used on certain regional, local roads, urban streets and footpaths, in an effort to preserve existing stocks. The council has also agreed to deposit loads of grit at locations throughout the county following requests from councillors and farmers.