Storm Gerrit: Taxi driver injured by falling tree in Waterford as west coast braces for more wind

The clean-up from Storm Gerrit is continuing this afternoon, as people living in Munster and Connacht have been told by Met Éireann to expect thunderstorms and possible flooding in some local areas.

A man was taken to hospital with minor injuries after a large tree fell on to a taxi he was driving on the Dunmore Road, Co Waterford, at around 11pm on Wednesday.

Gabriel Hynes, senior engineer at Waterford City and County Council, said the incident was a “very close” call.

“A tree fell across the road, an approaching taxi was struck but it landed on the bonnet ... If he was two or three feet further on it could have been critical, with the tree landing on the roof of the car,” he said.

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Mr Hynes said the driver of the taxi was “very fortunate” to come away with only minor injuries.

The council official said crews had cleared a number of fallen trees off roads since the height of the storm.

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“While the worst of the weather has passed, the current thunderstorm warning is expected to bring some scattered thunderstorms and spells of rain, which could lead to localised and spot flooding,” he said. “These conditions combined with fallen branches and debris on the roads will make travel hazardous,” he said.

Hundreds of people were without power in both Co Wexford and Co Clare on Thursday morning, with further power outages seen in Cork and Galway. ESB Networks crews have been working to restore power to homes that have been cut off following the storm.

The number of homes without power had dropped from a high of nearly 2,000 to several hundred by 1pm on Thursday, a spokesman for ESB Networks said.

Power had been restored in the vast majority of outages in the worst hit areas in south Wexford and Ennis, Co Clare, he said. There remained some “very small pockets” where people were still without power, with crews working to restore supply in those cases, he said.

A status yellow wind and rain warning is in place from midnight to 6am on Friday for most of the west coast, from counties Kerry to Donegal. Strong gusts are expected to hit these counties along with large waves bringing the risk of some coastal flooding. A further yellow rainfall warning has been issued for Donegal, Leitrim, north Co Mayo and Sligo from 6am to 9pm on Friday which may lead to some localised flooding.

Uisce Éireann, formerly known as Irish Water, has said it is working to restore water supply to around 500 homes cut off during the storm near Crosshaven, Co Cork.

The agency said a power outage had led to homes around Crosshaven, Myrtleville, and Fountainstown losing water supply.

In a statement, Uisce Éireann said customers living in the area “may experience low pressure and/or interruptions to their water supply for the next 24 hours”. Repair crews were currently working to restore water supply to the affected homes, it said.

Met Éireann issued a fresh status yellow weather warning for possible thunderstorms and hail on Thursday morning, covering Munster, Connacht, and Co Donegal.

The national forecaster warned the poor weather could lead to further power outages, localised flooding and dangerous conditions on roads. Met Éireann said the warning remains in place until 9pm on Thursday.

The forecaster said strong winds and gusts could cause damage, with large waves and heavy rain leading to risks of some flooding by coastal areas. The weather warning remains in place until Friday morning.

The forecast for the coming days shows the cold and unsettled weather is set to continue into the weekend.

Storm Gerrit in the UK

In the UK a “localised tornado” damaged properties in Greater Manchester on Wednesday evening as Storm Gerrit swept the country, police said.

Greater Manchester Police said officers were called to “numerous reports of significant damage” to homes in Stalybridge, Tameside, at around 11.45pm.

No injuries were reported but many residents were forced to leave their homes.

Chief Superintendent Mark Dexter from GMP said, “This incident has undoubtedly affected numerous people in the Stalybridge area with many residents displaced from their properties during the night.

“Our highest priority is keeping people safe which is why we are advising those who have been displaced not to return or enter their properties which have significant damage until they have been assessed by structural engineers.

“I would also like to urge members of the public to avoid the area where possible and take extra care when travelling in vehicles on the roads in Stalybridge and the surrounding areas, due to debris in the road.”

Additional reporting – PA

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