The lessons that Ophelia taught us
Sir — Hurricane Ophelia, like many such extreme weather events, brought out the best and worst in people.
Met Eireann deserves the highest praise for giving adchanges equate and vividly explained notice of the storm coming our way.
Though three people lost their lives, the toll of grief and suffering might have been even worse had the warnings not been so effectively relayed to the nation.
Countless examples of human decency are emerging in the wake of Ophelia: of people looking after vulnerable neighbours; sharing food; inviting families severely affected by Ophelia into their homes; of emergency services working flat-out to clear trees from roads and restore electricity to homes.
But then other human beings opted to exploit the occasion. Ignoring the red alert, they went swimming, or strolling along piers lashed by high waves.
Apart from risking their own lives pointlessly, they also posed a risk to volunteer rescue personnel who would, if they got into difficulty, have been called to save them from their own crass stupidity.
If we had a Gobs***e of the Year award, it should go to those reckless individuals.
Close runners-up might be the climate change deniers. Even as the winds howled and the waves pounded our shores, as roofs were shorn from buildings and trees uprooted like tissue paper, they continued to close their minds to reality.
The past three years have witnessed the wettest winters since records began.
Ireland is 0.8C warmer now than it was a hundred years ago. Sea levels are rising.
The EPA has warned that winter storms will increase in intensity in the coming years and heavy rainfall will become more intense.
We should heed the advice of the weather experts, whether it relates to keeping safe when Mother Nature lashes out, or reducing emissions that contribute to destructive climate change.
If we don’t cop on to our crazy behaviour as a species, our planet could find itself on the fast track to oblivion, and that’ll be no storm in a teacup. John Fitzgerald, Callan, Co Kilkenny