New Year coastal chaos

The old stone humpback bridge in Carrowholly was completely washed away last Friday morning, in some of the worst tidal surges ever witnessed in the area.?Pic: Michael McLaughlin

Coastal communities count the cost of Christine and other Christmas storms


Council assess damage before asking for emergency funding

Áine Ryan

SAINT Christopher may be the patron saint of mariners and seafarers but as Storm Christine battered the Mayo coastline last night coastal communities were acutely aware that prayer could not resolve the millions of euros of damage inflicted during the windiest Christmas and New Year period in living memory.
The depleted coffers of central government must now be urgently opened and, unsurprisingly, public representatives, who met yesterday at Áras an Chontae in Castlebar for the annual Budget meeting, were also acutely aware of this. They are already assessing the huge structural, human and financial impact this series of storms – leading to Red, Orange and Amber Alerts – have had in recent weeks.  
Dubbing the destruction ‘unprecedented’, Cathaoirleach Johnny O’Malley, who experienced first-hand the massive damage inflicted in the Carrowholly area near Westport, said there were still people cut off in Rossmindle.
“After the bridge (beyond Carrowholly School) was taken out last Thursday night, one young couple had to be taken from their house in a boat on Friday morning with three foot of water in their house. These waters had receded by Sunday but were back up again today (Monday). I have lived in Carrowholly all my life but I have never seen a storm like it, it is lucky nobody was injured or killed,” Cllr O’Malley said.
Confirming the damage to bridges, sea-walls, roads and other structures all around the coastline, County Manager, Peter Hynes, said it was too early to give a figure as to the cost of repair works.
“Right now we are assessing the amount of damage and want to ensure that we neither understate it or overstate it. We will then be going to central government for funding as we quite simply do not have the resources for such extensive damage,” Peter Hynes said.  He praised the county council crews, and volunteer groups, such as the Civil Defence,  who were working 24-7 ‘in the teeth of the storms’ dealing with blocked roads and other problems.
“We hope the worst of the damage is behind us and plan to have a full report for next Monday’s monthly meeting of the council,” he added. Sinn Féin’s Cllr Rose Conway-Walsh proposed that the council formally write to Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan, yesterday to advise him of ‘the extensive damage’ and urgent need for support.
Speaking from Saudi Arabia on Sunday, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he witnessed the destruction done to Bertra Beach, near Westport on Friday and that the scale of the damage was ‘quite enormous’.
“What took 50,000 years to put together was blown away and washed away literally in 12 hours,” Mr Kenny said.
And with the Marine Institute recording 12-metre waves yesterday morning at Waverider, the buoy off Belmullet, the fact that yesterday was the 175th anniversary of the Big Wind put the unleashed power of the ocean and the winds into stark perspective.  

See pages 4, 5, 6 & 7