Tag Archives: Ophelia

Employers have been advised to remain vigilant this week due to anticipated worsening of weather conditions over the next couple of days and the possibility of a “Red weather warning” being issued later on in the week. “Unlike Ophelia, we now have the opportunity to prepare for this event and we advise employers to take time to put measures in place to reduce the potential business impact this warning could have”, a spokesperson for ISME, the employers’organisation has cautioned. During Ophelia, widespread business closures occurred at short notice. While it is very possible that business closures will not be necessary on this occasion, businesses should prepare for the possibility. “As employers have a duty of care for all employees under the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act, a key consideration needs to be whether, in the circumstances, it is safe to ask employees to travel to work, or to undertake their work. The potential risk could be greater for …

Clare County Council has closed the R471 Sixmilebridge to Clonlara road to through traffic in order to remove dangerous trees following ex-hurricane Ophelia. The road will be closed immediately west of Cooleycasey Cross to facilitate the works. The local authority has said it has taken the decision to remove these trees as they are in danger of falling following the storm. All motorists are advised to take alternative routes.

ESB Networks have now restored power all over the county following Hurricane Ophelia. On Monday some 6,700 customers lost power as a result of the strong winds. At the time there were fears that people could be left without power for very long spells but those proved unfounded, and many people had electricity again within hours. By Wednesday afternoon only 70 customers were still without electricity, and those have now had it restored. A status yellow rainfall warning is in place for Clare, the rest of Munster and a number of Leinster counties today. There is also a status yellow warning in place for Saturday, with high winds expected, but conditions are very unlikely to be as bad as on Monday.

OPTIMISM is being expressed that the backlog of flights at Shannon caused by today’s weather is about to ease. A spokeswoman for the airport said: “Shannon Airport remained open throughout the day and experienced a number of flight cancellations and delays, but we are beginning to see a slow improvement in the weather conditions and are cautiously optimistic that the backlog of delayed flights will now begin to resume throughout the evening and tomorrow. “The Aer Lingus London Heathrow flight EI385 landed at Shannon at 4.13pm and a number of transatlantic services with Aer Lingus and Norwegian Air, delayed from earlier today, have been rescheduled for tonight. “Airlines will continue to advise passengers of schedule changes and we still advise intending passengers to check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling to the airport.  We will continue monitoring the situation throughout the evening. Passengers are encouraged to contact their airlines and they can find live flight information …

THOUSANDS of Clare homes have been left without electricity due to Hurricane Ophelia and it may be several days before some people have it restored. According to the ESB Networks in the region of 4,000 customers in Cranny, Miltown, Drumquin, Ennistymon, Kilrush, Ennis, Shannon, Cratloe, Tulla, and Scariff as well as their surrounds have been left without power. In a statement ESB Networks warned that many people will not have their electricity restored for some time. “As of 4:30 pm, approximately 360,000 electricity customers are without power as a result of over 3,200 individual faults on the network across the country. Fallen trees on overhead lines are responsible for most of the damage to the network. “The majority of customers who have lost supply at present will be without power tonight and over a number of days. Based on previous experience of Storm Darwin in 2014, where about 280,000 customers were left without supply, we can predict that it will …

  THE impact of Hurricane Ophelia is being felt across Clare this afternoon, with trees down in numerous locations and many homes without power. Speaking to the Clare Champion Councillor Mike McKee said that about a third of homes in Shannon are without electricity, including many in the Ballycasey area. He also said a tree had fallen at Cluain Airne and a lamp post went down at Cill Cais. “It has been fairly wild over the last few hours, but I don’t think it’s as bad as when we had the last storm, three or four years ago,” he noted. Councillor McKee said that most business in Shannon Town Centre had closed, as had those in the Shannon Free Zone. He also said there have been dangerous driving conditions close to the airport, due to debris. In Ennis Councillor Mary Howard said the weather is very dangerous. “The gusts are very strong and its frightening,” she said. “My advice is …

    THE following flights landed safely at Shannon this morning: Aer Lingus New York EI110 landed at 05:27am Aer Lingus Boston EI134 landed at 05:33am Norwegian Air Providence landed at 06:55am The following flights departed from Shannon this morning: Ryanair Manchester FR4777 departed at 07:14am Ryanair London Stansted FR102 departed at 07:19am Aer Lingus London Heathrow EI380 departed at 07:41am However, at this point the following flights have been cancelled: Aer Lingus Regional Edinburgh EI3675 inbound service due at 10:35am Aer Lingus Regional Edinburgh EI3672  outbound service due to depart 11:05am Aer Lingus Regional Birmingham EI 3639 inbound at 6:35pm Aer Lingus Regional Birmingham EI3638 outbound at 7:00pm Aer Lingus London/Heathrow EI381 inbound at 11:15am Aer Lingus London/Heathrow EI384 outbound at 12:30pm Ryanair Wroclaw FR1172 departing at 10:50am and returning at 5:00 pm as FR1173 Ryanair Faro FR2303 departing at 10:20am, and returning at 4:20PM as FR2304 Ryanair Lanzarote FR1345 at 11:30am and returning as FR1344 at 12.00 noon. …