Updated 11.00 pm
STORM OPHELIA GAVE Ireland an absolute pasting today as it made its laborious way across the country.
Trees were ripped up by the roots, roofs were peeled back and tossed aside, and, tragically, at least three people died – the hurricane-force winds showed no mercy.
As we write, 58-year-old Waterford woman Clare O’Neill and Michael Pyke (31) from Tipperary have been named as the first two victims of the storm. A third man, in Co Louth, has not yet been identified locally.
Nowhere in the country has been safe.
On the Boreenmanna Road in Co Cork, Aoife Murphy captured these shots of the destructive force of Storm Ophelia, with a tree ripped up and tossed aside like confetti.
In Co Galway, meanwhile, the storm left behind pounding waves and sodden roads along the coast as it made its way northward:
In Coolcotts, Wexford town, the roof of Scoil Mhuire Primary School was blown clean off:
That was to become something of a recurring theme: in Cork city, a large portion of the roof of the Cork City FC stadium at Turner’s Cross has been ripped off.
Cork is suffering badly – this shows part of the roof of Passage West’s GAA clubhouse blowing close to houses in the village:
Meanwhile, an avenue of trees came loose from their moorings and completely blocked Centre Park Road in Cork city:
Things were no prettier in Charleville:
In nearby Douglas in Cork, the sports hall of the Community School has been devastated:
The midlands did not emerge unscathed – these trees were ripped from the ground at Abbeylands in Mullingar, Co Westmeath.
A TheJournal.ie user has been in touch with this short video of what appears to be part of an apartment balcony railing flapping perilously around the Beacon Quarter in Sandyford, south Dublin. (Fire services have just intervened to pull the piece of sheeting back into the apartment block):
Close to TheJournal.ie offices in Dublin, this is happening (don’t worry – we have all gone to work offsite for the duration of the storm):
The flashing on this roof has since been secured by members of Dublin Fire Brigade.
As illustrated by the tragic death of the woman in Waterford, the danger of large branches and trees felled by the wind cannot be underestimated. A man has been killed near Cahir in Co Tipperary while using a chainsaw to try to clear a fallen tree.
In Cork, near Fota Wildlife Park:
This tree is lying across Leeson Street in Dublin:
And not far away, in Ranelagh, Dublin 6, this old giant on Northbrook Road has collapsed onto a house:
Fallen telegraph poles and electric cables are also a massive hazard – around 200,000 households – business and residential – are without power because of the onslaught of the past few hours. Find out more about that here.
Even if you think you have taken all precautions and your belongings can’t move in the wind, this image taken by Prezmyslaw Nawrocki in Lahinch, Co Clare, which has suffered more than its share of storm damage over the years, shows little is escaping Ophelia:
The National Emergency Coordination Group has said in the last hour that “the immediate storm will not abate over the south coast until 4-6pm and midnight for the north of the country”. Please stay safe and keep indoors if possible. If there is damage to be seen outside your window, by all means email to us at tips@thejournal.ie, tweet or Facebook us, but please don’t venture out on our behalf.
Additional reporting Cianan Brennan
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say