WHILE there were fears about the havoc that Storm Éowyn would do in north Clare, Councillor Shane Talty said that it was not as severe as the storm that famously struck the area in 2014.
“It was very lively all night, from 3am to 7am, but there doesn’t seem to have been really major damage. There was an awful lot of small damage with slates and tiles and sheds anything that was vulnerable. There are trees down, but I haven’t heard of any major destruction to houses or businesses, thankfully,” he said this afternoon.
Listening to the wind was very disconcerting, he said, “I don’t know exactly what speeds it hit, but listening to it, you’d think the whole house could go.”
A big clean up operation will be required, but he said it could have been even worse. “There was an awful lot of damage, but none of it hugely serious. It is all significant to individuals, but it’s not on a par to what happened ten years ago. It’s an eye opener for people, there’s a lot of tidying up and repairs to be done.”
In Clarecastle Councillor Paul Murphy said that many people are still without power. “Out here in Barntick, we had no power, it went off around 2.30am but it came back around 12.30 or 1pm. The village of Clarecastle is still in the dark and I’m trying to find out what the story is there.”
He said he had spent some time earlier today clearing roads, and much has been done in the area to return to normality. “It was a bad storm but it died off quickly and the workers are out there now and they’re getting on top of things.”
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.