120mph trail of destruction
Roofs wrecked, trees felled & 360,000 homes in blackout
UPROOTED trees, wrecked school roofs and widespread blackouts were the devastating legacy of Hurricane Ophelia.
It hit Ireland yesterday morning and unleashed gales of 120mph in some of the worst-hit areas of Cork. In the most populous areas of Dublin and Leinster, gardai issued a warning after fears fallen material had made the roads dangerous. A spokesman said: “There are widespread reports of trees down and debris across the roads network. “Power lines down and outages reported in Swords.” The AA also told motorists to expect disruption in Ophelia’s aftermath. Spokesman Conor Faughnan said: “By Monday afternoon our Roadwatch team had more than 150 confirmed incidents involving fallen trees. “While some of these may have been cleared by now, many obstructions are likely to still be in place as weather conditions hampered clean-up efforts on Monday. “While the storm may have passed over us, much of the damage it caused will still be visible for the next 24 to 48 hours so it’s important motorists check for updates on their routes before they depart, allow extra travel time and exercise additional caution.” More than 360,000 homes – mainly in Cork, Kerry and the South-west were left without power. At Turner’s Cross, the home of League Of Ireland so ccer side Cork City, th e roof collapsed on to the stand. And on Twitter images were posted of a school gym in the city which had its roof ripped off in the storm. But dangerously violent gales were only part of yesterday’s drama as tidal surges brought their own dangers. Th e Kinvara area of Galway yesterday was completely submerged under rising flood waters. Meanwhile, five windsurfers sparked an emergency response off the Co Louth coast. The Clogherhead lifeboat,
If there was one positive it was how prepared we were for the arrival of Ophelia
Rescue 116 as well as the Greenore Coast Guard were deployed after the alarm was raised when the water sports enthusiasts went out of sight off Blackrock Bay at about 10.20am. A Coast Guard sp o ke sma n confirmed they made their own way back to shore but reminded people to “stay back, stay high and stay dry”. There was widespread criticism on social media with numerous people accusing the group of putting the lives of the emergency services at risk. Elsewhere, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney reported his shed roof blew off in fierce winds. The Cork TD shared pictures of the damage on Twitter and received a big response from social media users. One person wrote in reply to his snaps: “I feel your pain my fence has crumbled [suspect we are among lucky ones though].” Another added: “Wow, stay safe.” Dozens of others took to Twitter to express their concern at the destruction. One wrote: “#Ophelia tore my gutter from the roof here in #Cork. “Scary enough. Can’ t imagine what full force hurricane would be like. Keep safe #Ireland.” Another added: “#Hurricaneophelia this is getting bad... sending prayers to the families badly affected.”