Storm a' comin' Wed evening & night/Thurs morning

ScumLord

J o e wrote: »

If it's a "status red" (highest level) warning from Met Éireann then I think they're right to close the schools.

I went to status red too and had to go to the doctor to get a cream.

Baggy Trousers

beardybrewer wrote: »

So a few fallen branches and toppled patio furniture.

I know weather is a playing the odds but closing the schools seems an overreaction in hindsight. The real cost is parents just lost a day of paid time off to be home with the kids.

I agree on the schools. We cant close schools for every 'red' warning.
I drove through the Galway countryside this morning and saw very little fallen anything.

MadYaker

It's laughable how the public and media treat these storms. It's some abnormally strong gusts of wind lasting a few hours. That's it. You'd swear it was a hurricane reading some of the stuff online. Closing schools ffs.

kabakuyu

J o e wrote: »

If it's a "status red" (highest level) warning from Met Éireann then I think they're right to close the schools. If it looks like it didn't warrant that, then maybe Met Éireann overestimated the storm.

They're more likely to overestimate it now after getting some grief for underestimating floods last year.

I believe it was left up to individual schools whether to close or not, time off has to be made up.
Imagine school X not closing and ignoring status red warning, pupil from school X is hit by flying debris while going to school and seriously hurt,then everybody wants to know why school X ignored warnings ,school authorities can't win in these situations.

MadYaker

I know of one school that closed because there was a lot of construction going on so there was the potential for stuff to going flying, that was fair enough.

ben.schlomo

MadYaker wrote: »

It's laughable how the public and media treat these storms. It's some abnormally strong gusts of wind lasting a few hours. That's it. You'd swear it was a hurricane reading some of the stuff online. Closing schools ffs.

MadYaker wrote: »

I know of one school that closed because there was a lot of construction going on so there was the potential for stuff to going flying, that was fair enough.

Flip flop.

_Whimsical_

beardybrewer wrote: »

Results:

211 homes without power in Gort
299 " Clifden
45 " Athenry
83 " Carraroe
No reports of fallen trees but weather making driving, cycling and walking hazardous.
*Advertiser

So a few fallen branches and toppled patio furniture.

I know weather is a playing the odds but closing the schools seems an overreaction in hindsight. The real cost is parents just lost a day of paid time off to be home with the kids.

Wouldn't you prefer play the odds and lose a days pay than play and lose your child, or indeed anyone lose their child. I know which scenario I'd rather end on the losing side of. In Antrim today a man has been killed when a tree fell on his car. A child is seriously injured in Belfast after a pallet blew onto him on a street.

In fairness really met eireann can only go by what the technology they are using tells them. All the major forecasting maps all foresaw a serious event and met eireann acted accordingly and hopefully they'll continue to do so in future despite criticism. American storm watching associations were watching the satellite footage of the storm and live tweeting satellite maps showing hurricane force twelve winds were off the west of Ireland.It wasn't a case of anyone being wrong or over the top here, more just a case of us being lucky on this occasion.

Baggy Trousers

MadYaker wrote: »

I know of one school that closed because there was a lot of construction going on so there was the potential for stuff to going flying, that was fair enough.

I heard some schools closed because they had portacabins and they feared a Wizard of Oz type "adventure"...

dr.bollocko

There's still a bit of a stiff breeze out there and a few dropeens of rain out there. Fcuk this lads I'm moving to Limerick. I can't take my chances in this madness.

beardybrewer

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

Wouldn't you prefer play the odds and lose a days pay than play and lose your child, or indeed anyone lose their child.

Ok, scratch my previous comment. This is the overreaction that trumps them all.

pleasant Co.

Not really, it's a fair point.

'Red' is our highest weather warning, without the benefit of hindsight the schools could only go by the information available to them. I'm happy to know that the people in charge of each school did opt to play it safe, rather than be quite so arrogant as to think that weather could do no damage or take any lives. In retrospect there was little to fear, but there was no way of knowing beforehand that that would be the case, given the available information.

PEACEBROTHER

Better to over estimate than under estimate

ScumLord

dr.bollocko wrote: »

There's still a bit of a stiff breeze out there and a few dropeens of rain out there.

It's being called stiff breeze "Fionnuala".

dr.bollocko

ScumLord wrote: »

It's being called stiff breeze "Fionnuala".

Somebody guard Fidelma. She's our most important Galwegian.

antoobrien

dr.bollocko wrote: »

There's still a bit of a stiff breeze out there and a few dropeens of rain out there. Fcuk this lads I'm moving to Limerick. I can't take my chances in this madness.

Let's put this in a bit of context, the storm on December 18th 2013 was shorter and slightly sharper than this one. In that storm (which had a lot of flooding due to the comnination of high tides and heavy rain) the average winds (taken over 10 minute periods) at the weather station in Athenry were greater than 20 knots (about 40km/h) for only 5 hours on that day (5pm-10pm), the top gust was 52 knots. Rainfall was about 15mm in 3 hours (2pm-5pm).

Starting at about 7pm Wednesday the average speed reached 20 knots and did not fall below that until after 1pm yesterday, with a highest gust of 49 knots. Over the 24 hour period 2pm-2pm there was about 22m of rain.