THE WEATHER warnings have been lifted and Storm Ellen has eased, and across the country people are checking the destruction left behind.
In Cork, where the rare Red Weather Warning was issued, there were over 50 reports of fallen trees across the county, some taking down power lines, others blocking roads making travel impossible.
Multiple trees down between Midleton and Dungourney this morning. #StormEllen pic.twitter.com/YPF6jCWLG0
— Cork Safety Alerts (@CorkSafetyAlert) August 20, 2020
Cork City Fire Brigade confirmed the crew had been called out multiple times throughout the night to deal with incidents related to the storm, many of them involving fallen trees on the road.
While the Red warning has now been lifted in Cork as of 6am this morning, the Brigade reminded people to "exercise caution this morning and throughout today" as debris from the storm could still be blocking roads unexpectedly.
Crews responded to several #StormEllen incidents overnight, with many trees down around the city.
All incidents dealt with safely 🚒
Please continue to exercise caution this morning and throughout today ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/RYLLu7aUnc— Cork City Fire Brigade (@CorkCityFire) August 20, 2020
As was warned by Met Eireann, severe flooding hit some areas in the country, with Cork again receiving the brunt of the storm.
A shocking video posted to Twitter by Douglas local Pádraig shows the storm shorting out power lines and sending out electric sparks.
When I say I screamed. Douglas #Cork now #StormEllen @CorkSafetyAlert pic.twitter.com/ouOzfeF6J9
— Pádraig (@Padraig_WMC) August 19, 2020
Images and videos from the town of Skibbereen spread across social media showing water, several feet deep, flooding through the town and damaging homes and businesses.
The Irish Civil Defence and Cork Fire Brigade were called to the town to assist with the flooding.
We would like to say a huge thanks to Skibbereen Fire Brigade and Skibbereen Civil Defence, along with all our staff who worked tirelessly to keep the water out of our shop, we will be forever grateful 🙏#StormEllen pic.twitter.com/6Zli2Sb4Gp
— ALBANY FUSION HOME (@FUSION_HOME) August 20, 2020
The images drew ire from locals and public officials, with many stating that the risk of flooding in the area had been pointed out to Office of Public Works multiple times and that millions had been spent on flood protection.
Christopher O'Sullivan, TD for Cork South West, said "The entire town should be dry even in this intense rainfall.
"Part of me is not surprised."
This shouldn’t be happening in Skibbereen.Millions spent on flood protection.The entire town should be dry even in this intense rainfall. Part of me is not surprised. The flood committee flagged that this area needed more protection.OPW need to provide answers. #StormEllen pic.twitter.com/pPr061LOz9
— Christopher O’Sullivan TD (@COSullivanTD) August 19, 2020
Holly Cairns, TD for West Cork, shared a video of Skibbereen not long after the Red Weather Warning came into play, and the damage done in less than two hours was stark.
Skibbereen now. #StormEllen #WestCork pic.twitter.com/ZyWoZ81lFr
— Holly Cairns TD (@HollyCairnsTD) August 19, 2020
And it wouldn't be a storm in Ireland if someone didn't get a free trampoline out of it.
But it wasn't just Cork that bore the brunt of the storm: in Limerick, the strength of the wind looked like something out of a sci-fi movie...
#StormEllen just got a little windy in Limerick pic.twitter.com/8RcGTowQD4
— dermotd24 (@dermotd24) August 19, 2020
...or a disaster movie.
#StormEllen was fairly rough there between 12 and 1am last night... 😨 #Limerick pic.twitter.com/1hJ9Q5ABd5
— Mags Browne (@MagsBrow) August 20, 2020
Almost 200,000 homes and businesses have been left without power following the storm, and while ESB staff began working on the outages overnight, some areas are not expected to have power returned until this evening.
Reports of fallen or damaged trees have been received in Cork, Waterford, Tipperary, Longford, Cavan, Westmeath and Sligo.
And in Cork, in addition to the fallen trees, there was also a fallen Costa Coffee sign.
The sign has come down outside Costa Coffee in Turners Cross. #StormEllen pic.twitter.com/5u1lizZg0L
— Cork Safety Alerts (@CorkSafetyAlert) August 20, 2020
