Storm batters the country
Snow, rain and winds are
some of Irelands biggest
weather enemies at the moment. Winds are tearing
down buildings and trees,
rain is flooding parts of the
coastal cities and the snow
covers us up in a white blanket. That’s Ireland’s weather
for you. The 12th of February has been the worst on
record. Gusts up to 120km
are being recorded in the
south west. Over 120,000
businesses and properties
are being left without power
and 12,000 homes are without phone lines and 19
trucks have overturned. This
has been the worst winter
on record but especially for
coastal and rural towns after
the terrible floods they have
had last month. Public services such as An Post, Airlines, Train and Luas services, bus services have either been delayed or
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stopped from the bad
weather. In Laois, the Monasterevin to Portarlington
Road, the Block Road in
Portlaoise and Ridge Road
have closed because of fallen
trees and ESB lines. This extreme weather is costing the
government millions such as
the incident where a newly
built €7m leisure center's
roof blew off
in New Ross
in Co. Wexford. Even
children like
us are being
affected by the
horrible
weather such
as an incident
where the
roof of a prefab was blown
off in Co. Kerry. Luckily no
one was hurt.
The govern-
By evan rankin
ment is asking adults and
even young people like us to
check on elderly neighbours
and friends. The government
is drawing together a humanitarian fund to help people affected by this crazy
weather. For more weather
info please visit rte.ie, accuweather.com and weatherforcast.com.
GAZETTE