Updated: 7.00pm
LIMERICK CITY AND county was hit the hardest today as Storm Brian made its way across Ireland.
The centre of the storm has now passed Ireland and moved on to Britain.
Flooding was seen throughout Limerick city from early this morning, with locals fearful ahead of high tide at 8pm this evening.
However, no houses were affected by the flooding, and following concerted efforts on the part of Limerick council most of the early damage was mitigated.
Persistent rain continued across the country throughout the day.
Met Éireann says that is likely to remain the situation for the remainder of the evening, while there’s a status yellow wind warning in place for Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Leitrim, Roscommon, Sligo, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford until midnight tonight.
Earlier, a group of 15 sailing students were rescued from the waters of Dun Laoghaire after getting into trouble during a lesson.
Meanwhile, areas of Galway were hit by local flooding as the storm passed over the west and headed towards the midlands.
However, Cork – an area usually worst hit by flooding – managed to escape relatively unscathed.
As of 11.30am this morning the storm had moved over the Leinster area and had centred around Dublin and Meath bringing with it torrential rains.
As of Saturday evening, meanwhile, the ESB has said that there are just 19,500 homes without power since Storm Ophelia. Crews are currently braving Storm Brian to fix the service, the company said.
Previously, some locals in the southeast of the country told TheJournal.ie that they feared the damage done by this storm would be worse, as more rain is forecast and the tides could be higher in places, creating a higher chance of flooding in low-lying areas.
Cork County Council warned people last night to stay away from the coast and asked people to watch out for overhanging branches and trees that could fall due to damage done during Storm Ophelia.
This weekend’s forecast
Basically, stronger than average winds, and downpours of rain.
A Status Orange wind warning – predicting gusts of up to 130km/h – will be in place for the coasts of Mayo, Galway, Clare, Kerry, Cork, Waterford and Wexford until 10pm today, with a yellow warning for the rest of the country.
A Status Yellow rainfall warning is in effect since yesterday morning for Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Waterford. Rainfall of up to 50mm is forecast, and the warning is in place until 10pm tonight.
Road users have also been warned to watch out for overhanging trees, surface water and remaining debris left in the wake of Storm Ophelia. Cork County Council has also closed the following roads until they have been cleared of fallen trees:
Kevin O’Sullivan of the Labour party said that ahead of Storm Brian the tide gates on the River Dodder and at Merrion Gates will remain closed until Monday 23 October.
“In addition, the Car Parks on Strand Road, Sandymount will also be closed,” he said.
With reporting by Garreth MacNamee and Cianan Brennan
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