THE WORST STORMS IN RECENT YEARS
...and the damage and deaths caused
STORM OPHELIA OCTOBER 2017
STORM Ophelia was one of the biggest storms to hit Ireland in recent years – causing almost €70million in damage and costing three people their lives.
It tore across Ireland in 2017 at 115kph – with gusts reaching 156kph.
Major Atlantic hurricanes usually hit much further to the west than Ireland. When it made landfall, it was downgraded to an extratropical storm but it still caused significant damage.
The country was effectively shut down for two days and it left more than 385,000 homes without power, brought down trees, and took the roofs off buildings.
Insurance Ireland estimated that €45million was paid out on policies following the storm – with the ESB spending €15.6million on getting power back to homes and businesses. Local authorities also had to fork out €7million for immediate repairs.
HURRICANE CHARLEY AUGUST 1986
BEFORE Hurricane Charley made landfall in Ireland in 1986, hundreds of people were evacuated and five people were killed.
Rainfall lasted for 24 hours, which set a record for the country. This led to widespread flooding and damage to trees and power lines.
The Government ended up allocating close to IR£6.5million to fix damaged roads and bridges (roughly €16.2million in today’s money), while insurance claims were estimated to be IR£25million, which would be almost €62.5million today.
HURRICANE DEBBIE SEPTEMBER 1961
MET Éireann describes Hurricane Debbie as the ‘most similar storm’ to Storm Ophelia in 2017 in terms of how it developed and tracked across the Atlantic. However, it was much more deadly.
The storm hit the country in 1961 and resulted in 18 deaths – 11 in the Republic and seven in the North.
When it hit Ireland, Debbie was downgraded to an extra-tropical storm but it still managed to reach gusts of 181kph at Malin Head in Co. Donegal.
The storm struck suddenly and unexpectedly as it pre-dated satellite technology.