The worst storm to hit the south since 1974 threw Christmas festivities into chaos, disrupted travel arrangements and plunged thousands of homes into darkness for over 48 hours. A spokeswoman for Met Eireann admitted that no severe weather warning was issued, but she said the forecast given out for Christmas Eve did warn of gusts up to gale force. Hurricane-force winds hit parts of the south, with gusts of over 100 m.p.h. recorded in Valentia, Co Kerry, and at Waterford airport.
She said an advance severe weather warning was issued to county councils, the ESB and other public bodies on Tuesday, 24 hours before the storm arrived, and a full severe weather warning was issued at midday on Christmas Eve. Many homes were already without electricity by then.
More than 15,000 homes are still without electricity this morning, including 4,500 in west Cork. The ESB says it could take more than 24 hours to reconnect supplies to all homes. Over Christmas, more than 135,000 homes were without electricity.
ESB crews worked flat out to repair fallen lines and two helicopters were drafted in to survey the damage. By yesterday morning, more than half of those who had lost power had it restored. The first fatality of the storm came at about 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve, when Mr Damian Fogarty (19) died when a wall fell on him in Waterville, Co Kerry. In Cork, Mr Joe Ryan (56) from Deanwood Avenue, Togher, suffered a suspected heart attack and died as he was trying to cut away the branches of a tree trapping a family of four in their car.
Explaining Met Eireann's position, the spokeswoman said: "The details are often very difficult to pin down. From Saturday we were talking about very severe winds. The storm was developing in the Atlantic. Its exact position was very, very difficult. When it came closer, a severe weather alert was issued about midday on Christmas Eve."
Sailings to and from Britain were cancelled on Christmas Eve, flights from Dublin to Cork, Shannon, Galway and Tralee were also cancelled, buses were frequently diverted because of fallen trees and trains were delayed by up to three hours. Gardai warned motorists to avoid travelling unless it was absolutely necessary. DART services could operate only between Bray and Dun Laoghaire.
More than 135,000 homes were without electricity over Christmas. The worst-hit areas were Tralee, Kanturk, Killarney and south Kerry, west Cork, Limerick and Clare, including Ennis and Limerick city, Waterford and parts of Wexford and Wicklow, Tipperary town, Nenagh and Portlaoise.
The ESB had more than 1,000 staff out in shifts of up to 30 hours seeking to restore the lines. Apart from west Cork, those still in the dark include homes in parts of Limerick, Waterford and some areas along the east coast.