Relief as Ophelia passes without trouble

Eye of the storm . . . Flooding mightn't have been an issue for most places during ex-hurricane Ophelia last Monday but this wasn't the case at the Spanish Arch area of Galway city where sea surges flooded the streets in the afternoon coinciding with the high tide. PHOTO: HANY MARZOUK.

placeholder image — Eye of the storm . . . Flooding mightn't have been an issue for most places during ex-hurricane Ophelia last Monday but this wasn't the case at the Spanish Arch area of Galway city where sea surges flooded the streets in the afternoon coinciding with the high tide. PHOTO: HANY MARZOUK.

FARMERS in the West appeared to have emerged largely unscathed from the impact of ex-hurricane Ophelia that hit Ireland through the course of Monday last.

IFA representatives across the county told the Farming Tribune that the feedback they were getting back this week on the storm was largely one of relief.

“The general response we’re getting is that Ophelia, thankfully, wasn’t quite as bad as we had expected. I think we escaped the worst of it here in Galway and Mayo,” said Galway IFA Chairman, Pat Murphy.

He said that some dairy farmers without power were under pressure and he urged the ESB to prioritise repairs in such cases.

The storm seems to have been worst in Galway from around 1pm to 4pm but winds speeds in the West were often only half of what they were along the South Coast.

Mace Head in South-West Connemara recorded the highest wind speed of all the Met Éireann stations in Galway and Mayo with a gust of 58.7 miles per hour – by contrast, a maximum speed of 96.7mph was recorded at Roche’s Point in Cork.

Monday’s storm wasn’t really a rain event of any significance with lowish totals recorded at the Met Éireann stations in Athenry (just 4.7mms.); Claremorris (12.3mms) and Knock Airport (14.7mms.).

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.