CALL FOR URGENT ACTION ON FLOODING ISSUES AS STORM AMY VISITS HAVOC ON COUNTY

The series of calls for urgent action to resolve flooding issues in Monaghan Town and other parts of the county and address the threat to overhead powerlines from roadside trees made at Monday’s meeting of Monaghan Co Council articulated concerns being voiced across the county in the aftermath of the visitation of the severe weather event Storm Amy on Friday last.

The Council members and executive also echoed the wider public disaffection with the belated severe weather warnings for Co Monaghan issued by Met Éireann which left the county largely unprepared for the torrential rainfall and high winds that precipitated a major flooding situation in the centre of Monaghan Town and caused flooding issues in other parts of the county and left thousands of people without an electricity supply from Friday afternoon until various times of restoration over the weekend.

It was estimated on Saturday morning that there were still around 10,000 homes and places of business in the county without power although the majority of households had their supply restored as the day proceeded. The severity of the flooding in Monaghan Town caused severe disruption and transport complications on the day of the week when traffic volumes in the town are at their most intense. Rising water levels in the Annalore River resulted in severe flooding in the Newbliss and Clones areas and the village…