Case Study:

Quantifying Cost Of Storm Damage

Background

Given the diversity of services often affected when an extreme weather event arises, and the need for co-ordination across multiple local authority departments, local authorities often find it difficult to quantify the financial cost of dealing with such events (Figure 1). This results in making any claims to various Government departments or analysis of the event more difficult.

Solution

To overcome this problem, Cavan County Council identified a comprehensive list of all departments affected by extreme weather events, including its machinery yard, civil defence, fire services and municipal districts. The costs were sub-categorised into labour, plant, material and subcontractor costs. This allowed for a template for the allocation of resources for future extreme weather events.

Benefits of Solution

Economic
The economic benefits of this study allow for:

claims to be made more easily to relevant Government departments;
transparency of costs; and,
prediction of allocation of costs for similar climate events.

Figure 1: Snowploughing during Storm Emma, 2018.

Project Details:

Timeframe
The time it took for this project to be completed was minimal.

Further information
Report and tables available in Cavan County Council Climate
Change Adaptation Strategy 2019-24.

Local authority project contact
Colm O’Callaghan
A /Senior Engineer