Cork “escaped the worst” of Storm Éowyn on Friday, a council official has said, but maximum gusts of 130km/h and 40mm of rain brought by the storm have created multiple hazards.
Cork County Council’s director of services Padraig Barrett said other counties were “far more impacted” by the weather event, with attention in Co Cork now turning to the clean-up.
“High tide peaked in Bantry at quarter to twelve last night without incident and after that the wind direction and winds were moving in a northerly direction,” he told RTÉ radio. “So, high tide will be at twelve again this morning or later today, and we are not worried at this point in time, thankfully.”
[ Live Storm Éowyn updates: Hundreds of thousands of homes without powerOpens in new window ]
A red Met Éireann warning came into force in Co Cork at 6am and expired at 11am. Most of the country was then under a nationwide orange wind warning until noon, when a less severe yellow warning kicked in until 4pm on Friday.
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Motorists in Co Cork are being advised not to become complacent as a number of hazards remain in place even after the downgrading of the weather warning.
Cork City Council’s director of services David Joyce said travel times would be heavily impacted as the storm had caused spot flooding and trees to fall in areas including Cobh, Cloyne, Carrigadrohid, Crosshaven, Fivemilebridge, Glengarriff and Killavullen, where a tree seriously damaged the roof of a house.
There are also reports of damage to electricity and telecoms infrastructure and much debris on roads and footpaths. More than 20,000 homes and businesses in Co Cork were hit by power outages.
A young man was understood to have been taken to hospital in Cork city with non life threatening injuries after a caravan in the Spring Lane Halting site in Ballyvolane turned over. Units of the Cork City Fire Service attended at the scene.
The storm also caused disruption to the schedule at Cork Airport. Cork Airport was showing delays to most flights on Friday morning, with cancellations of services to London Heathrow, Glasgow, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Bristol. Flights to Poznan, Seville and Paris are delayed.
Cork County Council said it had received a low volume of calls overnight as members of the public heeded the warnings to stay indoors during the weather event.
“Assistance was provided to those calls where it was safe to so do,” the council said. “These calls, and calls for assistance from the HSE, gardaí and essential utilities will be prioritised this morning. Crews will be deployed when it is safe to do so.
“Cork County Council thanks the public for their understanding and patience as we respond to this severe weather event and the aftermath.”
Priority areas for council crews included reopening the R586 Ballineen to Bandon road, the R600 Kinsale to Ballinspittle road and the R612 Carrigaline to Crosshaven road, which were all impassable due to fallen trees. The M8 Blackwater Viaduct near Fermoy has reopened to traffic as has the N71 near Glengarriff Golf Club.
Cork County Council facilities such as municipal offices, libraries, swimming pools, civic amenity sites and tourist facilities would remain closed on Friday.
The Dursey Cable Car has been taken out of service due to the winds and a post-storm technical inspection will have to be undertaken before it can return to service.
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