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Updated at 6.50pm
THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY COORDINATION Group has outlined the plans that are in place to ensure people can get through the approaching snow storm with as little disruption to their lives as possible.
The group, which brings together various organisations and public agencies, met earlier this morning and in a media briefing afterwards, Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government said the government is “well prepared”.
The storm, which has been referred to as The Beast from the East, was named Storm Emma by Portuguese forecasters and although Hector was next on Ireland’s storm name list, reporters were told officials here will stick with Portuguese name this week.
Minister Murphy said there is “an exceptionally cold weather event on our doorstep and it will have an impact on the country”. This morning a Status Orange snow-ice warning was issued for seven counties in the east of Ireland.
Murphy warned that the weather will get progressively worse, with heavy snowfall and blizzard conditions on Thursday and Friday.
“It’s difficult to forecast everything because you are facing nature,” he said. “The closest comparison we have from the forecast at the moment is the event in 1982.”
He said the NECG will be meeting every day this week and will revise its advice as the situation progresses. Murphy said the storm has the potential to be upgraded to a Status Red weather warning and if this happens it will have a “cascading effect”, particularly in relation to public transport.
His advice to people is to ensure they are well prepared – put batteries in the torch, ensure there is enough fuel and basic food supplies at home and wrap up warm. He also asked people to check on vulnerable or elderly neighbours to ensure they have everything they need and are warm enough in the coming days.
Met Éireann’s Evelyn Cusack said the snow showers are expected to begin tomorrow night and early Wednesday morning. Temperatures may drop as low as -6.
Although she could not give an estimation of how much snow may fall, she said it will be “a lot”.
More than 100 additional emergency beds have been opened up and outreach teams will be out encouraging homeless individuals to seek shelter at night.
The Minister asked members of the public in Dublin to notify the homeless executive if they see people sleeping rough around the city.
ESB said that it was preparing for possible power outages, and to keep an eye on its PowerCheck website for updates.
Ahead of the storm, it’s advising customers to
It warned people that electricity wires could be damaged by the snow and ice, and not to approach them.
These wires will still be live and are extremely dangerous. Never ever approach or touch electricity network wires under any circumstances.
“Snow may also cause trees and branches to fall across or lean onto electricity lines. Please do not approach or touch any fallen wires or the tree or branch that they are touching.”
It added that it had cancelled all scheduled maintenance appointments on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to be rescheduled at a later date.
You can report incidences of fallen wires by calling the ESB on 1850 372 999.
For now, schools have not been advised to close, but this may change.
If it is upgraded to Status Red, school buses will no longer be running and schools will have to shut. This is more likely at the end of this week and in southern and eastern areas.
It will be up to individual schools to notify parents of the decision.
Sean O’Neill of Transport Infrastructure Ireland said there are “ample supplies” of salt for the roads – 120,000 tonnes to be exact.
However, he said many local or regional roads may not get salted or ploughed as the national network will be the priority.
Garda Superintendent John Ferris asked road users to be aware that these conditions will require them to slow down and to take extra time to get to their destination.
“Use common sense, use the next day or two to get your car ready – if your car is not roadworthy, get it roadworthy – use public transport, plan your journeys, particularly on Thursday and Friday when it looks like it will be very challenging on the roads,” he said.
He advised drivers to keep water in their car, as well as warm clothing and high visibility jackets and to keep an eye out for vulnerable road users.
Drivers are also advised to look at their car’s manual to check what kind of safety assist features their vehicle has.
Wexford County Council said that they had “large stocks of salt and grit” and a range of specialist vehicles ready to be used to clear roads, as would be the case with other local authorities.
All of the transport operations have emergency plans and will be meeting this week.
Dublin Airport is not currently expecting to have to close, but this depends on the level of snow that falls on Thursday and Friday.
Equally Irish Rail and Bus Éireann are not anticipating major disruption to services if the warnings remain at Yellow or Orange levels. However, if it is upgraded to Status Red, they will have to reassess.
Irish Rail will have crews working to clear snow, but if it is falling faster than it can be cleared, services will be impacted.
Bus Éireann is working to ensure it has adequate grit. School transport services will only be suspended in the event of a Status Red Warning.
The Irish Travel Agents’ Association said that those who are planning for travel abroad over the next few days are “naturally very concerned”.
“Our advice to Irish holidaymakers travelling in the coming days is to keep in close contact with their travel provider or airline to establish if their holiday itineraries or flights are affected,” it said.
The farming community has been advised to ensure farmyards are gritted and clear so it is safe for use for supplies coming and going, and for the family living there.
In relation to access to water for animals, pipes should be properly insulated. Farmers should also ensure there is adequate shelter for animals that are outdoors, and that all machinery is properly stored. Farmers are also advised to take particular care of their own personal safety.
For more information about preparing for the storm, visit winterready.ie.
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I have never voted Fine Gael but this story is really being pushed by the media who are dragging the public along for the ride……..
Indeed Sean, deflecting from the real story. They’ve lied and tried to set up an innocent man with horrendous charges. Our Taoiseach lied in the Dail, lied on national airwaves, and now the major cover up continues
@Sean Higgins:
I would not be one bit surprised if the ‘leadership’ heave was orchestrated from day one to alleviate the pressure on Kenny and Fitzgerald on being caught out lying.
And lets not forget oul Noirin…where are the calls gone for her to step aside.
The media are as big of a farce as the government, including this stupid and pointless liveblog.
@Soupy Norman: I totally agree with you, a farcical government deflecting from the real issues aided and abetted by the farcical media…
@Sean Higgins: And the whistle-blower fiasco nicely covered up the hospital waiting list debacle – has that been forgotten already?
They are worse. They are the ones who’s stated aim is to bring the truth to the public and hold the government of the day to task. Most of the media are failing miserably at this.
Have to hand it to Michael Martin. How he can keep a straight face while he criticises the lame duck he’s propping up in power is beyond me.
He should be more honest
‘Taoiseach, this is unacceptable. Its now becoming almost impossible to pretend we’re the opposition……’
If he pulled the plug now polls show he’d be Taoiseach
Maybe it’s just that he lived through a time when we had 3 elections in one year and it turned the country into a basket case to have that kind of instability?
Would you have refused to make a supply and confidence deal? Then there’s have been another election with another hung Dail polls showed , so what then?
Seems he’s going to act the tough guy maneen which he has perfected when dealing with the boys and girls in FG which is a direct contrast with the good little lad attitude he brings to Brussels and it’s becoming nauseating for the citizens to watch this charade.
Is Kenny using an earpiece today or is he answering any questions at all?
talk about dragging this out !!!
@Michael cunnane:
They will only stop talking about Enda Kenny stepping aside and his replacement once they feel that it’s safe that the furore surrounding the McCabe incident and blatent cover-ups/lies has died down. The whole circus is nothing but a distraction. They honestly believe that we cannot deal with more than one thing at a time due to our tiny little feeble minds.
Enda Kenny is a liar…
@xor: And his pants are on fire.
@Derek Poutch: His nose is as long as the telephone wire.
Give a date enda or divide the party.more important issues to be dealt with.You will remember the name McCabe every day of your life, it will haunt you.
Perhaps it is time that Bus Eireann was tendered out and broken up into regions covered by private bus companies competing for business. The farse of having overpaid drivers and trade unions holding the country to ransom should be a thing of the past.
@Chris Kirk: correct. jobs for the boys is what the semi states and public sector are all about. as long as the workers are looked after with good pay and pension and their work practices are left unchallenged, then all is well with them. Bertie bought them and the labour party protected them ( as they look after their major financial contributors). there is a place for public services but not at any cost.
Spain had the same problem after its civil war the south had no bus services as Franco was only interested in a route from Madrid to Valencia. In came an Argentinian company tendered for the contract and wow what a service. Got a bus all the way from Algeciras to Rhonda for seven quid last year on a modern coach adapted for LPG fuel so they cut costs are cleaner engines and they give that to their customers. Professional service polite drivers and they would never leave you in the middle of no where without a connecting service unlike their Spanish counterparts( and for that matter Irish)./Every bus company in the world are adapting their engines to non fossil fuels,the dail have divested from fossil fuels and ABIOTIC variants however we still have these oversized engine fanciers hijacking our transport again. Freedom of provision of services and ” passporting” which allows any EU nation or company operating within to tender for transport or INSURANCE contracts..time we kicked these MIBI Bus Eireann and Trinity House London lunatics into touch …they behave like that North Korean dictator telling us there is nothing beyond their civil war politics.,because when people realise there is then they lose control.
This situation will create a massive logistical problem. If Bus Eireann do become insolvent, the work load will fall back on the private bus operators that mostly struggle to attract drivers. Private operator drivers will get overworked and they are underpaid in a lot of cases as it is.
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