Thousands of homes and businesses in Clare are without power this afternoon, as Storm Jorge batters the county.
A status red wind warning came into effect for the county at the earlier time of 11 o’clock this morning and remains in place until 3pm.
Clare County Council is urging people to remain indoors for the duration of the storm and some public transport services have been affected as Clare FM’s Fiona Cahill reports:
Met Eireann’s highest alert came into effect for the county at the earlier time of 11 o’clock this morning, as Storm Jorge tracked at a faster pace than expected.
The Red alert remain in place until 3 o’clock this afternoon and the message from the local authority is not to drive and to remain indoors.
The strongest gust recorded at Shannon Airport so far was 94 kilometres per hour at 12 noon, but Met Eireann has forecast severe winds of up to 100 kilometres per hour for the county while the alert is in place, and gusts of up to 145 kilometres per hour.
More than 3,000 homes and businesses in parts of Clare are now without power, including 2,962 in the Tullabrack area of West Clare and 271 in Ennistymon.
The ESB moved additional networks resources into Ennis yesterday evening and says crews will deploy to the faults across the county when it’s safe to do so.
Bus Eireann says a number of its services have been impacted by the bad weather.
These include route 323 Killaloe to Limerick, 333 Ennis to Doonbeg, 336 Ennis to Kilkee, 343 Limerick to Ennis 346 Limerick to Whitegate, and route 350 between Ennis and Galway.
Shannon Airport hasn’t advised of any flight disruption at this time, but those who are flying today are being asked to bear the conditions in mind and to contact their airlines for up to date information.
All Clare County Council recycling centres will remain closed for the day on account of the stormy weather.
While a number of National Parks and Nature Reserves, including the Burren National Park, Dromore Woods and Coole Park in Gort are also closed.
Organisers of events have also been advised to postpone events in the interests of public safety.
After the Red warning is lifted, a Status Orange wind warning will remain in place until 3am. tonight.
Winds will still be strong, with gusts of up to 130 km/h forecast. There’s also warnings for rain and for snow/ice for times today.
Clare County Council’s Crisis Management Team will continue to meet over the weekend and local authority crews will commence any clear-up operations once the Red Level warning is expored.
Motorists are advised to drive with extreme caution during and after the wind warnings as debris on the roads is expected.
Meanwhile,
Water levels in the flood hit area of Springfield, Clonlara dropped overnight.
But the ESB has confirmed that it will continue to release 400 tonnes of water from Parteen Weir today and it’s feared that rainfall associated with storm Jorge could impact the area today.
Senior Engineer with Clare County Council John Leahy has given us the latest update from the area.
