Time to start fronting up when it comes to fighting back in war on extreme weather
THERE’S a certain irony in the fact that an interactive exhibition about climate change was forced to postpone opening twice in recent weeks because of unprecedented weather.
As the ‘Beast from the East’ clashed with Storm Emma, the Cool Planet Experience in Wicklow remained shut as the State entered lockdown.
But some visitors were bemused by the fuss. One group of Canadians reliably informed the Irish
Independent that we weren’t experiencing a blizzard at all, but merely a snowstorm.
Without doubt, the warning for people to get home was the correct response. But in a world of climate change can the State’s advice continue to be ‘stay at home’? And what must we do to adapt to a changing climate?
While blizzard-like conditions haven’t been seen since 1982, Ireland has recently experienced two big freezes in the winters of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 which also resulted in travel chaos, water restrictions and had a severe impact on public services.
While the State’s response is so much better today than before, the fact that so many communities remained cut-off for days suggests it’s not sufficient.
It’s useful to look to the experience of other places which routinely see sub-zero winters, such as Boston in the US.
There, property owners must clear snow and ice from footpaths and failure to do so incurs a daily fine of at least $50 (€40). City and state agencies keep the main thoroughfares and motorways clear while local authorities hire contractors, often ordinary people with other jobs, to clear local roads.
“You have local infrastructure which is highly evolved,” one source said. “Your neighbours have trucks, they put a plough on it, and the local authority pays them to plough the neighbourhood, after the vehicle is inspected (to make sure it’s suitable).
“All the little roads, the equivalent of a boreen, are also cleared. There’s built-in infrastructure from the ground up.”
But is this response feasible here, to help prevent slips, trips and falls and keep roads open?
British company Kersten UK sells Meyer snowploughs, which are available for ride-on lawnmowers, quads and petrol-driven golf buggies for around £2,000 (€2,240). They could clear schools, housing developments or small retail parks.
Operations manager Douglas Faulkner said ploughs are available too for 4x4s, tractors and commercial vehicles such as Ford Transit vans, costing from €5,600. Salt spreaders can be had for between £1,500 (€1,680) and £6,000 (€6,700).
Given there are some 90,000 tractors across the State, and no shortage of vans or 4x4s, hiring local people to clear snow is clearly an option. But what about maintenance?
“There are not a lot of moving parts, and maintenance is fairly minimal,” he said. “The larger snowplough for the 4x4s and tractors would need an oil change once a year because they operate on hydraulics, but there’s not a tremendous amount that can go wrong. I could see no reason why it couldn’t last for 10 years if looked after properly.”
Local authorities salt around 20pc of the 100,000km road network. If contractors were employed locally to do the remainder at, say, 50km each per day, another 1,600 ploughs and spreaders would be required.
Assuming it costs €12,000 to equip a vehicle, that’s a spend of just
The State’s response is so much better today, but the fact so many communities were cut off suggests it’s not sufficient
over €19m – a lot of money for equipment which might rarely be used. But it would guarantee that roads would remain open, and likely prevent higher economic losses in the event of another big chill.
But what about trains and trams? While ploughs are available, the big problem is freezing points which allow vehicles to switch from one track to the other. These have to be manually cleared, and heavy snow can damage overhead wires.
In the Finnish capital of Helsinki, trams are designed with maximum friction and new models have automated sanding. But services still get cancelled. Open roads at least provide one transport option.
There is a need too to review the period by which people are told to stay indoors.
“The big challenge is you could end up where people think you can traverse a road with a 4x4, for example, but maybe you hit a car which can’t,” one source said. “Then emergency services have to get there.
“Then the snowplough can’t get through. Then a HGV delivering supplies gets stuck, and behind that is a surgeon who needs to get to hospital. You literally stockpile problems.
“Maybe there is a timeline we need to look at so people who do the clean-up have time to get on top of it, then others can get out.”
THERE are questions around whether emergency services have the tools they need – are there enough 4x4s across the public sector? Could a framework be put in place whereby snow tyres or chains for emergency vehicles could be drawn down at the first threat of snow?
Business also needs clarity – just what is an essential service which must remain open? And should staff be forced to take an unpaid leave day because their workplace is closed?
There also needs to be a campaign to stop people from running taps to prevent pipes freezing, which just deprives others of water.
The rural community has been worst-hit by this crisis, with under-maintained roads, piers and other infrastructure badly damaged.
It’s no longer good enough to rely on the National Emergency Co-ordination Group to keep the show on the road. It can only respond, not prevent.
This Government, and others, have been rightly criticised for their lack of action on climate change, and adapting our economy to make our infrastructure, services and people better able to cope with the worst the elements have to offer.
In the last year alone we have experienced major flooding, a hurricane and a blizzard – the type of extremes which experts suggest are more likely to occur as climate change takes hold. We have been warned.