Clare residents are being warned of a ‘significant danger to life’ as Storm Barra makes landfall.
An orange weather warning is currently in place for this county and Met Éireann has issued a red warning which will come into effect at 4pm and last until 1am on tomorrow morning.
More than 1,600 homes and businesses in Clare are without power, as Clare FM’s Rebecca O’Sullivan reports.
Storm Barra has made landfall and so far gusts of up to 83 kilometres per hour have been recorded at Met Éireann’s Shannon weather station, with average wind speeds around the Shannon Estuary hitting 120 kilometres per hour.
High waves, high tides and heavy rain are set to bring coastal flooding and there’s warnings of dangerous driving conditions.
Charlie Glynn of Kilrush RNLI is urging people to stay away from coastal areas in this county.
More than 1,600 homes and businesses are currently without power in the county.
ESB Crews have been dispatched to Kilkee and are hoping to restore power shortly, while an outage in Cratloe is expected to last until close to 11am.
Clare County Fire Service are dealing with trees down in various locations including Bodyke, Ballinahinch, Ballycasey and the Broadford Road out of Scarriff.
Gardaí are advising that the Quilty to Bellbridge Road will be closed for a significant portion of the morning, while the N67 at Moneypoint is impassable due to flood water caused by high tide.
The Road Safety Authority is advising all motorists to stay off the road once the Red Warning comes into effect.
Brian Farrell of the RSA says traveling in such conditons could have serious consequences.
A number of services are disrupted today on account of the storm.
Schools are closed, as are Mary Immaculate College and TUS’s Ennis, Clare Street and Moylish Campus’s, as well as LSAD.
All local link bus services are suspended for today and will resume tomorrow, while Bus Éireann is running a reduced service.
Clare County Council’s offices and Clare Courts are closed, as are AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank’s branches in Clare.
Clare Marts has also suspended it’s operations for today.
Shannon Airport is advising intending passengers to check with their airline before travelling to the airport, with flight information posted on all Shannon Airport social media platforms and the airport website, as it becomes available.
An Post says Postal deliveries services will operate as normal until 2pm and Post Offices will remain open for business as usual until the same time.
All outpatients appointments and vaccination clinics cancelled at Ennis Hospital from 2pm.
The UL Hospitals Group says some elective procedures will take place today, if patients can be safely discharged by 2pm.
Procedures taking place later in the day will be postponed and patients are being contacted directly by the hospital to confirm if their procedure is going ahead or not.
The Emergency Department at UHL, Injury Units at Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s and Medical Assessment Units at UHL, Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s will operate as normal.
The Maternity Emergency Unit at University Maternity Hospital Limerick will also continue to operate on a 24-hour basis.
While, there will be no COVID-19 testing conducted in Clare today, with Ballymaley’s testing centre remaining closed.
HSE Mid West Primary Care Health Centres will also close today at 12 noon at the following locations.
-Shannon Health Centre
-Sixmilebridge Health Centre
-Scariff Health Centre
-Tulla Health Centre
-Ennis Health Centre
-Kilmaley Health Centre
-Clarecastle Health Centre
-Ennistymon Heath Centre
-Lisdoonvarna Health Centre
-Ballyvaughan Medical Centre (HSE Services)
-Kilrush Health Centre
-Kilmihill Health Centre
-Miltown Malbay Health Centre
Services scheduled for before 12 o’clock will be provided as scheduled.
All routine mental health service appointments across Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary are also cancelled today.
These include CAMHS appointments, adult and specialist services. Mental health teams will be in touch with patients to advise
The crisis service remains operational through the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick.
