Storm Ophelia - General Discussion/Local reports - See MOD NOTE Post #1

frozenfrozen

I'm now 100% tired of people brushing off the seriousness both online and in person but mostly in person.

It's like the storm is coming to visit the way my mother is 'preparing', told her to get someone close to my granny to check on her now and make sure the place is cleared outside and that she has water etc and she said no it'll be grand you are just too young to remember other bad storms.

OK mammy, here's the chainsaw, let me know when you have the place cleared up on Tuesday

mirrorwall14

marvin80 wrote: »

This might be useful for people in some counties:

https://www.mapalerter.com/

That’s super, thank you for the share. I’ll be passing that one on

Harry Palmr

Mrself wrote: »

Does anyone have an idea of time frame? What time this is expected to hit the country and when it will pass? Im in Dublin but considering keeping kids home from school

it'll be in full gale by early afternoon by the look of it.

marvin80

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

That’s super, thank you for the share. I’ll be passing that one on

Pity only a handful of county councils are using it.

How you can be prepared for a power cut, power outage | ESB Networks

https://www.esbnetworks.ie/power-outages-updates/be-prepared

PLL

Samaris wrote: »

*Extratropical storm, I think.

That changing of the system in shape is a bit misleading in terms of preparation. We can all get behind "hurricane = oh sh*t", but then it changes to "extratropical storm" and people go "oh right, one of them things, we get them every year, be grand..."

I think it is due to drop to a Cat 1 before it hits land, but it seems to have been slower in slackening off than expected?

Extratropical, you're right. Will make no difference to the Irish population though. They will just hear the word 'storm' and think it will be grand. Let's hope for their sake they're right and we're fussing over nothing. At this late stage, and the lack of downgrading it doesn't look like it.

raven136

Ninthlife wrote: »

Schools in Newbridge have announced they are closing tomorrow. Hope more follow suit as the day progresses

Which schools I didn't hear an announcement
Thanks

__..__

Is the east coast going g to be red too?
Schools are going to have to decide quick if they are open or not.

flazio

frozenfrozen wrote: »

I'm now 100% tired of people brushing off the seriousness both online and in person but mostly in person.

It's like the storm is coming to visit the way my mother is 'preparing', told her to get someone close to my granny to check on her now and make sure the place is cleared outside and that she has water etc and she said no it'll be grand you are just too young to remember other bad storms.

OK mammy, here's the chainsaw, let me know when you have the place cleared up on Tuesday

I'm thinking it's more like we all feel like we're the third little pig in the fairy tale, we didn't build weak wooden houses like the Americans in tornado valley keep doing we built solid brick houses which can withstand harsh winters no bother.
All well and good until a tree comes in through the roof.

Malayalam

Imagine in the olden days when weather like this would just strike right out of the blue, with no early notice or satellite images or communication channels. It must have been terrifying. They would be such unusual events - once in a lifetime or less - that folklore or traditional methodsof observation could not build up any possible empirical indications to help predict them. I have this page on constant refresh, and am advising my husband to stay home from work tomorrow(outdoors on exposed mountainside near west coast) as mainly it is the possibility of trees coming down on the road as he drives or flying debris that I am worried about. Thanks for the updates. Helping enormously.

munsterlegend

flazio wrote: »

I'm thinking it's more like we all feel like we're the third little pig in the fairy tale, we didn't build weak wooden houses like the Americans in tornado valley keep doing we built solid brick houses which can withstand harsh winters no bother.
All well and good until a tree comes in through the roof.

Yeah and our trees don't bend like in the Caribbean. I saw Joanna Donnelly refer to this in her tweet.

Samaris

Trees are what I'm most nervy about. There's a stand of tall conifers on the south-east side of the house which I've always been a tad dubious about. We're not using that side of the house tomorrow night, that's for sure. If one comes through the bedroom roof, I don't want to be under it!

Foweva Awone

I'm in a hospital so I'm guessing that's about the safest place I could be for this, I would assume they have generators and emergency plans or whatever in place! I've warned family etc to take necessary measures, not much else I can do really I guess, in terms of preparation.

__..__

My sister lives in Swords co Dublin. She was told by a teacher there who she is pals with that the school is closed tomorrow. Surely school closures should be on the TV or radio at this stage.

ooompie5

munsterlegend wrote: »

Yeah and our trees don't bend like in the Caribbean. I saw Joanna Donnelly refer to this in her tweet.

What should you do if your treee comes down over a road???

Samaris

ooompie5 wrote: »

What should you do if your treee comes down over a road???

Look up your CoCo emergency line now in case the electric's out and call them if you have a tree down. Signal will probably be okay, but admittedly, that could go too depending on where you are.

r93kaey5p2izun

Looking at models has made me concerned for Dublin in the late afternoon but I know little about it so have to be guided by ME. Everyone I know is of the opinion it's all just hype and nobody has done anything in preparation. I hope RTE's advice is clear today and that my mother will be safe. Several orange alerts here have produced nothing but windy days so she is not willing to alter her plans or make any preparations.

If the school opens tomorrow there will be a lot of things to be secured and put away just in case. Lots of gardening equipment around the place,wheelbarrows, bins, goalposts, flags etc.No caretaker on Monday so hopefully it can be done before 8.45 or at lunchtime.

__..__

Meteorite58 wrote: »

To me both the the GFS and AROME have shifted E slightly since their last runs.

I've heard at least one school in Swords co Dublin is closed tomorrow.. more to follow in sure. Why aren't people being told what's what at this late stage.

sjb25

my3cents wrote: »

But will the shed still be there on Tuesday?

Lol hopefully

Cloudio9

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

I’m thoroughly confused by the reaction of the Irish Media versus the international media. Is there a possibility of anything Met Eireann are seeing that we aren’t that could explain the laid back “school buses are cancelled” coverage?

In my view it's easy for the International media to say whatever they want.

Met E and RTE as the state broadcaster have an enormous weight of responsibility on their shoulders to communicate this with authority and clarity.

Sierra Oscar

Micheál Martin on TV just now saying he's seriously concerned about the storm and is surprised the Government haven't been more active highlighting the threat that it poses.

I'd say we will see a ramping up of the warnings on public broadcasting this afternoon.

EDIT: I see RTÉ have just issued a push alert on the storm.

"Met Éireann have told the National Emergency Co-Ordination Committee it expects Opheila to hit the south coast and track up the west coast."

sjb25

ooompie5 wrote: »

What should you do if your treee comes down over a road???

Chainsaw and car trailer

All joking aside call the council

Samaris

Arlessienne - If I were in your position, I'd be more than half-inclined to call people who are taking it seriously and if you can get one that has keys and the like, go over today with a group to clear things. Tomorrow morning could well be getting on the too-late side.

MJohnston

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

I’m thoroughly confused by the reaction of the Irish Media versus the international media. Is there a possibility of anything Met Eireann are seeing that we aren’t that could explain the laid back “school buses are cancelled” coverage?

There’s a difference between what Met Eireann tell the media, and what the media are reporting. RTE is to blame for the lack of coverage and cautionary words, not ME.

r93kaey5p2izun

Samaris wrote: »

Arlessienne - If I were in your position, I'd be more than half-inclined to call people who are taking it seriously and if you can get one that has keys and the like, go over today with a group to clear things. Tomorrow morning could well be getting on the too-late side.

Nobody except the principal, deputy and caretaker has keys or alarm code. And ETB officials. We would not be allowed enter the premises.

aurora 527

Thought the Waterford/ Wexford counties would have been upgraded to a red warning by now, our local radio station this morning here in Waterford amazingly had top news story earlier this morning that we would be hit by tail end of hurricane and cyclists should wear reflective vests and be careful in windy conditions..followed by the forecast which made no mention of wind just rain and temp!!! Think a lot of people unfortunately will be caught out with this, if thats what is being broadcast!

Ludo

Just got an Orange alert from Cork City council...is that a downgrading from the red yesterday? All's good then..noting to see here?

TheMilkyPirate

Live NECC press conference via periscope

https://twitter.com/KevinPurcell_/status/919524696705589248

allthedoyles

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

MicheMartin on TV just now saying he's seriously concerned about the storm and is surprised the Government haven't been more active highlighting the threat that it poses.

I'd say we will see a ramping up of the warnings on public broadcasting this afternoon.

EDIT: I see RThave just issued a push alert on the storm.

"Met reann have told the National Emergency Co-Ordination Committee it expects Opheila to hit the south coast and track up the west coast."

The government must cordinate this and announce close of schools / universities . There is compulsary classes tomorrow in some universaties and if class is missed the student loses 10% of exam marks .

This has to be sorted

Irish Steve

The problem is that there has not been a weather event like this in most people's living memory, and rightly or wrongly, the track record regarding forecasting of "significant weather events" in Ireland has not been stellar in recent years, there have been too many occasions where warnings have been put out, but the event has not materialised in the way it was forecast, so warnings in general are not seen as being significant any more.

Social media is on board, Facebook has good coverage and information, and so do some of the national newspapers, the problem seems to be RTE, who are going to have some questions to answer if this pans out as is being predicted.

UK news media are also giving it a lot of coverage, Sky News are leaving no doubt about the severity of what's near enough 24 hours away now.

I can understand the reluctance to upgrade the RED areas, once they commit, it's hard to uncommit, and there will be decisions made on the strength of what is decided. I'd have been happier to see some responses from the national emergency meeting, if yesterday is anything to go by, RTE won't have coverage on the lunchtime (short) bulletin if there isn't some comment real soon.

I suspect a lot of people are going to get a very nasty shock tomorrow when this all happens, and I suspect there there will be some panic buying in some areas, as long as the supermarkets are still open for business, if the power goes out, that could be a game changer.

Oops69

is this going to be any stronger from a wind speed perspective than the several atlantic storms we're a hit by every winter? ,I've the impression its just going to be a slighter warmer than usual winter storm .