ALMOST 10,000 sandbags were distributed throughout the county during the chaos caused by Storm Desmond at the weekend.

The Cathaoirleach of Kerry County Council Pat McCarthy and its Chief Executive Moira Murrell have issued a joint statement thanking the emergency services for their efforts.

“In the aftermath of the exceptional weather event Storm Desmond which hit Kerry on Friday night, through Saturday and into Sunday morning, we wish to sincerely thank all the emergency service providers who attended including Council workers , the Fire Service, the Gardai , the HSE along with the Army,” the statement reads.

“We also wish to thank sincerely the very significant contribution made by the Civil Defence, Irish Red Cross and Killarney Inshore Rescue who had over 100 volunteers responding to the emergency and were assisting on site from Friday afternoon.”

“Through the collective planned efforts by all of these agencies, almost 10,000 sandbags were distributed to high risk areas and the risk of injury to life was managed.”

“The contribution of the public in heeding the safety advice given by the emergency services is greatly acknowledged, in particular the community spirit and resilience shown in attending to elderly and vulnerable neighbours.”

They also thanked the local media outlets who greatly assisted Kerry County Council in keeping the public informed of updates as the weather progressed.

The Council is presently working on the cleanup and are working with communities to attend to those areas affected and working with residents to assist them as required.