The North County, just like the rest of the country, was transformed into a very unseasonal winter wonderland last week, when Storm Emma collided with the ‘Beast from the East’ throwing down tons of snow over The North County.
It was the most severe snow event since 2010 and comparisons were made with the severe blizzard of 1982, which will still be fresh in the memory of some of our older citizens.
With all schools closed, it was the perfect winter wonderland for youngsters, who armed themselves with makeshift sleighs and took to the nearest hill for some exciting, impromptu tobogganing.
Every town and village in the area was alive with the screams of excited children – for many, this was their first time to experience real snow.
While it was exciting for kids, there was also a more serious side to things, as the North County experienced 9,000 homes whose electricity supply was cut. This was by far the highest rate of ESB power cuts in the entire country.
These cuts ranged from Portmarnock right through the county up as far as Naul, with almost every town and village affected. Thankfully, almost all areas have been reconnected thanks to the wonderful work of our emergency services, who are at our beck and call in all weather conditions.
Met Eireann’s Red Status Warning remained in place until 6pm on Friday last and the County Council’s crews were mobilised last Friday morning and commenced snow ploughing and salting operations. It appears that inland areas of the North County fared worse than coastal areas, with large accumulations of snow reported in the west of the county in areas like St Margaret’s, Blanchardstown, Naul, Garristown, Oldtown and Ballyboughal. Reports are that an ambulance got stuck in heavy snow near Lusk, but thankfully all worked out well in the end.
Can life get any better for Ula Kuzminaiye?