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

sdanseo

Dept of Education have a huge amount of responsibility here. Saw a very defensive tweet yesterday stating that there was "clear guidance" on their website.

Clicked the link which brought me to the homepage, had to do a search for weather, found the document, had to scroll down to find a paragraph which said schools should consider not opening in red areas but that the decision is down to each school.

That situation is an absolute recipe for disaster. You're leaving it up to thousands of individuals. There should be a government alert - either open or closed. No doubt should be left.

Samaris

Thank God for that, that was a ridiculous idea in Cobh of all places.

Itssoeasy

Lia_lia wrote: »

Wow!! Cobh like. Probably going to be one of the worst hit places in the country.

Also the mary poppins "joke" seems a bit out of place.

Cantona's Collars

Lia_lia wrote: »

Wow!! Cobh like. Probably going to be one of the worst hit places in the country.

The last line of the statement is gas,there may be fallen trees on the way home.
During the last big storm it took some of my family members and colleagues hours to make a normally 15 minute drive due to blocked roads.

Ludo

fred funk }{ wrote: »

Gaurentee they'll announce the school will be closed by the end of the day.

They already have...

babybuilder

H3llR4iser wrote: »

Again, seems to me like a lot of people (majority?) are thinking "sure, it'll be a bit windy and rainy, what's the problem?" and don't understand the situation.

Why aren't the authorities stepping in it's a mystery...are they afraid school/businesses will ask for "compensation"? It's not like these storms happen every day, it's been 50 years...

The biggest concern should be around timing and transport - last time I checked, the worst of the weather is supposed to hit around 4/5pm, right while basically everyone is going to be outside and trying to get home...

I'm baffled. Probably IBEC and multinational influence on government policy.

MJohnston

Missymoohaa wrote: »

I'm in north west Wicklow and I'm trying my best to read the charts and getting conflicting results which is probably my inexperience. Any one more experienced be able to tell me how it looks for us? Thanks

Whereabouts exactly? Is it an elevated, exposed area?

Missymoohaa

MJohnston wrote:

Whereabouts exactly? Is it an elevated, exposed area?

Its blessington, about 220m asl I believe. Many trees around.

PLL

Xenji wrote: »

GMIT Castlebar is officially closed tomorrow.

GMIT Galway had a crane across the road where the Garda HQ is being built. A little worried about that.

Lia_lia

I’m at my Mothers house in Killarney and she’s debating whether or not to being in her garden furniture. It’s quite a lot of furtiture and there is not much space to store it. I’m saying yes, find somewhere to put it. Would you lot say bring it in?

Samaris

I think a lot of it is just that Ireland does not expect these storms. We also seem to have a large proportion of the population who downplay any given warning as much as possible (or, if they were not too badly affected by past storms that did cause damage elsewhere, take their own experience as obviously being what everyone else should expect).

RTE etc are downplaying it, likely for fear of getting it wrong and a massive backlash. That is partly the fault of RTE for not taking a sturdier position based on the models and partly the fault of this ridiculous blase attitude of ordinary people who will be the first to demand heads roll if there's large-scale damage.

Lia_lia wrote: »

I’m at my Mothers house in Killarney and she’s debating whether or not to being in her garden furniture. It’s quite a lot of furtiture and there is not much space to store it. I’m saying yes, find somewhere to put it. Would you lot say bring it in?

Definitely. At best, it will likely be scattered or damaged. At worst, some of the smaller stuff could become flying debris at least as dangerous as slates.

marno21

I can see there being a rush to get fallen trees off the roads - plenty of firewood up for grabs

uck51js9zml2yt

jirafa wrote: »

They have just posted the they will close

marno21

Lia_lia wrote: »

I’m at my Mothers house in Killarney and she’s debating whether or not to being in her garden furniture. It’s quite a lot of furtiture and there is not much space to store it. I’m saying yes, find somewhere to put it. Would you lot say bring it in?

Yes I would. I'll be doing the same (Killarney). No point in saying "I should've brought it in" on Tuesday

spookwoman

Lia_lia wrote: »

I’m at my Mothers house in Killarney and she’s debating whether or not to being in her garden furniture. It’s quite a lot of furtiture and there is not much space to store it. I’m saying yes, find somewhere to put it. Would you lot say bring it in?

Does she live in an estate with houses next door tell her she doesnt want to damage their property. I'd be bringing it in eve if i lived in the boonies

kala85

If schools close for the storm , do they have to make the day up later on in the year?

babybuilder

Lia_lia wrote: »

I’m at my Mothers house in Killarney and she’s debating whether or not to being in her garden furniture. It’s quite a lot of furtiture and there is not much space to store it. I’m saying yes, find somewhere to put it. Would you lot say bring it in?

I'd sell it and get some money for it. Otherwise it'll be gone tomorrow.
Seriously, jam it in the house. I assume it's wooden or maybe aluminium.

uck51js9zml2yt

I cleared my back yard and dismantled the trampoline this morning. Bins are locked to the railings. I'm in Dublin

KathleenF

sdanseo wrote: »

Dept of Education have a huge amount of responsibility here. Saw a very defensive tweet yesterday stating that there was "clear guidance" on their website.

Clicked the link which brought me to the homepage, had to do a search for weather, found the document, had to scroll down to find a paragraph which said schools should consider not opening in red areas but that the decision is down to each school.

That situation is an absolute recipe for disaster. You're leaving it up to thousands of individuals. There should be a government alert - either open or closed. No doubt should be left.

Couldn't agree more. Red alert should equal closed school. Not the first time Dept want to shove responsibility to school instead of taking it on themselves. It would make everything much clearer for parents/staff/students and give more time for parents to prepare for childcare issues etc.

tinkerbell

I'm trying to interpret these charts but having a bit of difficulty ... Is Dublin going to be hit in the afternoon or will it be bad in the morning also?

_Kaiser_

So how bad are we talking in the midlands (Laois/Kildare area). Some of the charts look ominous but hard to tell with the fast moving updates.

babybuilder

KathleenF wrote: »

Couldn't agree more. Red alert should equal closed school. Not the first time Dept want to shove responsibility to school instead of taking it on themselves. It would make everything much clearer for parents/staff/students and give more time for parents to prepare for childcare issues etc.

Why just schools? What about people going to work?

MJohnston

Here are the most recent Wind Arrival Time estimates from the NHC - as always, times are displayed in AST, so you will need to add 5 hours to them to get Irish time:

r93kaey5p2izun

kala85 wrote: »

If schools close for the storm , do they have to make the day up later on in the year?

They have to make up the lost time - not necessarily by opening another day. First they should look at cancelling tours/events/activities to prioritise classroom learning, cut house exam periods, keep 3rd/6th years to end of year. Any more than a one day closure would probably require opening during holidays. It is agreed that this would be during first two days of Feb midterm and/or first three days of Easter.

BoJack Horseman

tinkerbell wrote: »

I'm trying to interpret these charts but having a bit of difficulty ... Is Dublin going to be hit in the afternoon or will it be bad in the morning also?

Morning should be ok, though obviously still quite windy.

By the late afternoon the winds will be extremely strong across the capital

see:
https://www.ventusky.com/?p=53.338;-6.099;9&l=gust&t=20171016/15

KathleenF

kala85 wrote: »

If schools close for the storm , do they have to make the day up later on in the year?

Not necessarily. More details here. https://www.education.ie/en/Circulars-and-Forms/Active-Circulars/cl0009_2017.pdf

kona

Colby Tall Shootout wrote: »

They have to make up the lost time - not necessarily by opening another day. First they should look at cancelling tours/events/activities to prioritise classroom learning, cut house exam periods, keep 3rd/6th years to end of year. Any more than a one day closure would probably require opening during holidays. It is agreed that this would be during first two days of Feb midterm and/or first three days of Easter.

Cant be having that, eating into the 3 months off.

Minister

I am due to leave Waterford at eight am for meetings in Kilkenny, Carlow and then on to Wicklow for a meeting at eight and leave Wicklow for Waterford, via N11, intending to arrive back about 12.30 am. Should I chance or cancel? I am not a nervous driver in any way.

Rega

kala85 wrote: »

If schools close for the storm , do they have to make the day up later on in the year?

Not if they close for one day. If it's a sustained closure (like the snow in 2010) they're now required to make up the days

H3llR4iser

tinkerbell wrote: »

I'm trying to interpret these charts but having a bit of difficulty ... Is Dublin going to be hit in the afternoon or will it be bad in the morning also?

Looks like more in the afternoon; Theoretically won't be nearly as bad as the west coast/south, so it should actually be a case of a "very windy and rainy" situation here, as opposed to the real deal Galway/Cork/Wexford will probably get.

That said, we can probably bet on being stranded somewhere when we'll be trying to come home from work tomorrow as the public transport system will be affected by the winds, some trucks will likely overturn on the M50, a lot of people will elect to drive in the morning seeing the sh1tty weather and whatnot...