HURRICANE SLAMS BRAY
‘NOT A LOT’ COAST GUARD COULD HAVE DONE IF SOMEONE GOT WASHED IN
A SIGNIFICANT number of people took risks by the coast last Monday during Hurricane Ophelia, which slammed into Bray on Monday.
This was according to Dermot Macaulay of Greystones Coast Guard. ‘ There were people down piers and on beaches with children,’ said Dermot.
He said the Coast Guard also en- countered teens planning to swim.
‘If someone got washed in there’s not a lot we could do. You can’t launch a boat in that weather.’
Last night, some electricity customers in north Wicklow were still without power. The status of outages can be checked on the ESB’s website at esb.ie/ esb-networks / power check/.
A significant number of people took risks by the coast last Monday during Hurricane Ophelia.
This was according to Dermot Macaulay Greystones Coastguard. He said that volunteers were patrolling Wicklow to Shankill for the duration of the storm, with a nationwide red alert in place.
‘ There were people down piers and on beaches with children’ said Dermot. They also encountered four teenagers who wanted to go in for a swim. ‘We advised people to stay away from the sea. Some people chose to ignore it. There was a significant amount of people taking risks.’ He said that the majority of people they spoke to took their warnings seriously and left.
‘We went out at 12 and thought we’d be finished by 6 p.m. but we had to carry on until midnight,’ said Dermot. ‘If someone got washed in there’s not a lot we could do. You can’t launch a boat in that weather.’
In Bray, seven people availed of overnight accommodation in Fassaroe Community Centre, and a further seven in Wicklow Homeless Five Loaves on Albert Walk.
‘We had a number of volunteers helping out,’ said a representative of the community centre. As well as the seven sleeping over, one or two came in for food and a shower.
They were overwhelmed at the centre by the generosity of the public who dropped off supplies all throughout the day.
Deputy John Brady said that they are now trying to secure more permanent accommodation for the people who stayed in Fassaroe on Monday.
At Five Loaves, the cook was serving up hot meals all day, and the seven people staying over got fold-up beds delivered by the civil defence.
There was a good atmosphere at the Albert Walk facility, despite the confined spaces.
The jolly atmosphere continued to the following morning when a hot breakfast was served. Members of the Order of Malta called in on Monday night to check everyone was okay.
There were no major incidents in the north Wicklow area, but trees did come down on Bray’s Herbert Road, Vevay Road, King Edward Road onto an ESB cable, Cookstown Road in Enniskerry into ESB cables, and on Blacklion Road in Greystones as well as Sea Road in Greystones. Trees also came down on the grounds of Oldcourt House on Vevay Road.
Electricity supply was affected in large areas of Bray for most of the afternoon and evening. The Department of Education announced yesterday evening that schools and colleges will re-open today ( Wednesday).