Galway Bay fm newsroom – The cost of clean up operations across Galway in the wake of Storm Desmond will be over 12 million euro.
The figure was revealed as part of a special presentation given to Galway County Council on flooding across the county.
Director of Services Liam Gavin told councillors at last evening’s sitting of Galway County Council that the local authority is currently preparing a cost report for the Department of the Environment.
That report will outline a range of measures required including response and clean-up, road repairs, flood mitigation measures, drainage and culvert repairs, and housing damage – all of which is expected to cost in the region of 12 million euro.
It follows considerable damage caused throughout the county by flooding in the wake of Storm Desmond, which saw 100mm of rainfall hit the county in just 36 hours.
The presentation revealed that Galway County Council had 35 percent less staff to deal with the flooding this time around, when compared to the major flooding seen around the county in 2009.
It also showed that since that major flooding in 2009, 118 OPW minor flood relief works were undertaken across the county at a cost of four million euro.
Councillors were told that these defences proved their worth in recent weeks, and flooding would have been much more severe were they not in place.
One such defence is a flood wall at the Ashfield Drive in Ballinasloe, which was constructed after all 130 homes flooded during 2009 – and this time around, not one house was affected.
Concluding his presentation, Liam Gavin warned that the frequency and severity of flooding is greatly increasing – and planning going forward will have to allow for repeat occurrences.