Donegal County Council Logo
Home > Your Council > Communications Office > Press Releases > Special Recognition Award for Councils response to

13/02/19 Special Recognition Award for Councils response to Inishowen Floods

LAMA awards

Donegal County Council team receiving Special Recognition Award for their response to the major flood event in Inishowen in August 2017.  at the 2019 Community and Council Awards in Croke Park on Saturday night.  Photo includes Aidan McGrenra, Cahir Doherty, Seosamh Mahon, John McLaughlin, Cllr. Martin Farren, Garry Martin, Eamonn Mahon, Kevin Lake, Claire McGeever and Dermot Brady.

 

Donegal County Council was honoured on Saturday night last with a Special Recognition Award for their response to the major flood event in Inishowen in August 2017.  The Award was presented at the 2019 Community and Council Awards in Croke Park which are presented by IPB and LAMA, the Local Authority Members Association and hosted by RTÉs sports commentator Marty Morrissey.

 

These awards celebrate communities and councils working together and many of the staff and management involved in the Council’s response to the flooding event in August 2017 were on hand to receive the award.

 

“We are delighted to receive this special recognition award which acknowledges the outstanding response of our own staff, management and of course elected members to the devastating floods in Inishowen in August 2017” said John McLaughlin, Director of Service in Donegal County Council and Manager of Inishowen Municipal District.

 

He added "on receiving this award, it is important to acknowledge the tremendous co-operation and assistance we received from various organisations and Government Departments.  The generosity shown by, not only the community of Inishowen, but also by people from across the country and from our diaspora especially in the US, was outstanding."

 

Major flooding event

The major flooding event took place on Tuesday 22nd August 2017 when an unprecedented rainfall event occured which caused severe flooding and major disruption to the communities of Inishowen.  The rainfall levels subsequently recorded at Malin Head and Carndonagh were exceptional, even exceeding the RED level warning alert on Met Éireann’s weather severity classification.  The event has been characterised as a one in a 100-year flood event.

 

Donegal County Council led out the multi-agency flood emergency response to ensure that the affected communities were able to return to their daily lives as quickly as possible.

 

LAMA awards 1

Donegal County Council team receiving Special Recognition Award for their response to the major flood event in Inishowen in August 2017.  at the 2019 Community and Council Awards in Croke Park on Saturday night.  Photo includes Aidan McGrenra, Cahir Doherty, Seosamh Mahon, John McLaughlin, Cllr. Martin Farren, Garry Martin, Eamonn Mahon, Kevin Lake, Claire McGeever and Dermot Brady.

 

The Fire Service response prioritised rescue and life-saving operations, which included the rescue of people trapped in stranded vehicles and at its peak there were nine separate Fire Brigades mobilised to separate incidents with 85 fire-fighters engaged in flood operations. 

 

Over 200 hundred homes were flooded and their contents destroyed. These homes were in multiple locations across Inishowen but principally in and around Burnfoot, Buncrana and Carndonagh areas. Around fifty families were long-term displaced from their homes, rendering them homeless in the immediate aftermath of the incident. A dedicated helpline was set up and managed by the Council’s Housing Service based in Carndonagh Public Services Centre in order to deal with families requiring assistance including emergency accommodation.

 

An outreach centre was also opened in Buncrana GAA Club where people could access the services from a range of agencies including the Department of Social Protection, the Irish Red Cross, the Samaritans and a professional counselling service.

 

The damage to the road network was extensive, with many bridges and culverts damaged or destroyed. Five main regional roads had to be closed due to bridge collapses and numerous local roads also had to be closed due to bridge collapse or having been washed away. Landslides, surface damage, road edge collapse, etc. also contributed to the overwhelming damage caused. It was estimated that over 600 roads and or bridges were either damaged or destroyed in the flood.

 

This led to an initial clean-up cost of  €1.5M with road / bridge repair costs estimated in the region of €15M+.  The Council’s Roads team worked tirelessly in the months following the flood to repair damage caused with much of the work completed in time for the hosting of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open in July 2018 and while most repairs are now complete there still remains some outstanding work to be completed and this is being pursued.

 

The damage to the water supply network was also significant. Seventeen serious water network incidents were recorded which involved pipes bursting as a result of flood damage to roads and / or bridges. Irish Water and Donegal County Council staff reacted to the incidents as they arose and as a result most water supplies were fully restored within a matter of days.

 

In addition six wastewater treatment plants were affected by flooding.  Some of these facilities suffered extensive damage and required significant repair work.  Most plants were restored to full operation within a matter of days.

 

Apart from damage to critical infrastructure hundreds of businesses, sporting and community buildings and facilities were either destroyed or damaged and hundreds of livestock were lost during the incident.

 

John McLaughlin believes that being recognized with a Community and Council Award is a great honour saying "this award acknowledges the work done by our team in Donegal County Council and recognises their dedication and tireless work during what was a very difficult time for all involved.  I believe that the response by Donegal County Council to this incident, and the follow up actions in the aftermath, was an example of public service of the highest order."

 

Rate this Page

Select an option below

Map Services

Map Portal

  • winterweather Image
  • NWGreenway network icon
  • Donegal Tourism Logo
  • Rennet Image
  • NPPR Logo
  • Donegal Gathering Logo
  • Donegal Diaspora Logo
  • Public Art logo
  • Regional Cultural Centre logo
  • Spaceial logo
  • IrishWater
  • LEO