Irish Civil Defence Force Activated To Deal With Major Flooding

The Irish Civil Defence was mobilised throughout the country to assist with flood relief following significant rainfall this past weekend.

In Dublin flash flooding on Saturday resulted in teams of Civil Defence volunteers working through the night alongside units of the Fire Brigade pumping water from houses and commercial property.

The teams also assisted with the evacuation of stranded people both from their cars and from their homes.

Over 100 Civil Defence volunteers were on duty during the operation. A total of 30 vehicles were deployed of which 12 were fire appliances.

In Laois 41 volunteers were activated on Saturday and Sunday. Five 4x4 vehicles, a minibus, a fire appliance and a boat were employed in operations.

Meath Civil Defence have been on flood watch over the past week and were activated to assist a number of people with stranded cars.

In Kildare, volunteers from Dublin and Wicklow assisted the Kildare Civil Defence unit throughout the weekend. In total 65 volunteers were deployed in Naas, Newbridge, Kildare, Athy and Castledermot and assisted with sandbagging and water pumping.

In the light of the decision to evacuate International Scouting Jamboree site at Punchestown the Civil Defence set up and operated a Rest Centre at the Events Centre in Punchestown for the huge number of people that had to be evacuated from the site. Civil Defence also assisted with transport to the Rest Centre and provided first-aid cover at the Centre.

In Waterford the Civil Defence unit was on standby but not activated as flooding was not significant there.

In Carlow the Civil Defence auxiliary fire unit was activated on Saturday to pump water from a number of flooded properties, while on Sunday in Carlow town the river level rose very rapidly. The unit had thirteen volunteers on site within an hour and they worked through the day and night, evacuating 102 people from an apartment block and ferrying people stranded by the flood.

In Wicklow thirty volunteers were activated in Arklow and Bray and worked all day Saturday sandbagging and evacuating people. A fire appliance, minibus and portable pumps were employed to assist in the flood relief.

This level of activity is said to demonstrate the capability of Civil Defence to deploy significant skilled resources to assist communities in the event of a major emergency and shows the ongoing commitment of volunteers to serving their communities.

Speaking after the weekend, Minister for Defence, Willie O'Dea T.D., thanked and paid tribute to the "great-unsung heroes of Irish life" - the Civil Defence Volunteers - for their tremendous work.

"Over many decades Civil Defence has developed on a national basis into a first class emergency response service working in support of all the mainstream emergency services.

"Civil Defence volunteers are the great-unsung heroes of Irish life and today I thank them and pay tribute to them for their outstanding work, particularly in recent days. I also thank their families for their support. The life of a Civil Defence volunteer is a difficult and time consuming one," stated Minister O'Dea.

"Although it was a busy time for Civil Defence volunteers at the height of the holiday season, they were up to the challenge and yet again demonstrate their commitment, flexibility and professionalism for the benefit of the entire community. They deserve our deep appreciation and respect and today on behalf of the Government and myself I thank each and every Civil Defence volunteer who carry out their duties so professionally," he concluded.