Photo Credit: Carmarthenshire County Council
Carmarthenshire County Council is continuing to prepare for the impacts that autumn and winter weather conditions can bring. Teams have been working behind the scenes throughout the summer and into autumn to ensure that crews can tackle challenging conditions and keep the highway network safe.
The County Council’s dedicated team of gritter drivers have received training, the gritters and equipment such as snow ploughs have been serviced and test runs carried out along gritting routes. Salt spreaders have also been calibrated to ensure they distribute salt at the correct rate for the road conditions, grit stores have been re-stocked and grit bins have been checked and re-filled where required.
Officers will continue to review forecasts throughout each day until April to decide on the appropriate actions and grit treatment overnight and into each morning for the weather conditions.
The County Council’s Social Care and Social Services teams have also reviewed their winter programmes and contingency arrangements to ensure that service delivery continues wherever possible when challenges conditions arise.
Alongside gritting, snow clearance and attending flooding incidents during difficult weather conditions, Highways Crews routinely respond to fallen trees and branches impacting the carriageway. This includes chainsaw trained operatives carrying out clearance where appropriate, supported by specialist contractors when incidents require additional resources.
Routine safety inspections along highways are carried out throughout the year and following weather events, with monitoring and actions taken to manage damage trees and other issues where appropriate. However, the management and maintenance of privately owned trees is the responsibility of landowners.
Following recent community preparedness seminars held by the County Council, communities are encouraged to be prepared and to consider their flood risk, what flood protection measures they may need, identify water entry points and review the essential items they may need during an emergency.
For advice and guidance including practical tips for property owners on flood preparedness visit Carmarthenshire County Council’s website.
Residents can also sign up to Natural Resources Wales flood alerts and warnings service, with teams working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to forecast, monitor and warn of flooding. Visit the Natural Resource Wales website to sign up.
Carmarthenshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, Waste and Infrastructure Services Cllr Edward Thomas, said:
“Our crews will continue to prioritise urgent incidents during difficult conditions, including highway flooding, fallen trees, road traffic accidents, road closures, and safety-critical issues such as blocked drains, blocked culverts and dangerous potholes.
While our crews do their absolute best to support residents during difficult conditions, the County Council cannot guarantee the delivery of sandbags and we encourage residents to consider their risk and prepare ahead of time, where possible. This includes reviewing the measures that may work best for their circumstances, as sandbags are not always the most effective solution.”
