Lots more floods to come
Friday December 08 2006
Less than a week after enduring the worst storm in years, many parts of the country were pounded by winds gusting up to 120kmh yesterday.
While there will be a brief lull today and tomorrow, Met Eireann said there's more to come over the next 10 days.
Delays
High winds forced the cancellation of several ferry services across the Irish Sea.
They also caused hazardous driving conditions on the roads.
But flights into and out of Ireland escaped virtually unscathed. Only minor delays at Dublin airport were reported.
As if the country didn't already know it, we are in the middle of a "very, very disturbed" Atlantic weather depression as front after front of gale- and storm-force winds continue to move in our direction.
"For the foreseeable future, about 10 days, it will be windy" and the winds would be "potentially severe at times", Joan Blackwell of Met Eireann warned.
While the country had been lashed by about three weeks of stormy weather, this was not unusual, she added. Today and tomorrow there will be a brief respite, with merely cool and breezy conditions and showers.
However, Met Eireann warns that extremely windy weather will return on Sunday, with gusts of up to 100kmh and a risk of some local flooding.
The stormy conditions forced the cancellation of Stena Lines' high-speed HSS service between Dun Laoghaire and Holyhead.
The shipping line's conventional ferry sailing on the route went ahead.
The high winds also halted the ferry sailing from Rosslare to Fishguard.
Also cancelled were all Irish Ferries' Jonathan Swift sailings on the Dublin-Holyhead route.
Munster bore the brunt of yesterday's atrocious weather. The south-west was placed on flood and storm alert.
While emergency services were on standby in Cork city, flooding hit rural parts of the county and Kerry.
The rivers Blackwater, Funcheon and Lee swamped thousands of acres and broke their banks in a number of places.
In Cork city, fears were mounting that the threatened combination of tides, heavy rainfall and strong winds could generate flooding worse than that which inflicted more than €5m worth of damage to city-centre premises five years ago.
Thousands of sandbags are being prepared. City officials insisted that residents in flood-prone areas should exercise maximum caution.
In Limerick, motorists had to endure gridlock yesterday evening as streets were closed off amid fears of debris falling from the city‘s tallest building.
Panels on the Riverpoint building which overlooks the Shannon were loosened on Thursday afternoon as winds of up to 120kmh battered the city.
Howley‘s Quay and Lower Mallow Street were closed to traffic, resulting in severe delays as frustrated motorists tried to leave the city centre from 4pm on.
Danger
A crane located at a city building site was freely revolving 360 degrees in the high winds but there was reportedly no danger to the public.
Lower Mallow Street, the main access road for the Shannon Bridge and the gateway to north Munster, is expected to remain closed until the weather improves.
Heavy rain throughout the day made driving conditions difficult in many parts of the country.
- Fergus Black
