Limerick City and County Council has convened its Severe Weather Assessment Team following Met Éireann’ s weather advisory regarding Storm Eleanor.
Met Éireann has issued a Status ORANGE Wind Warning for Limerick, the rest of Munster, Leinster and south Galway as Storm Eleanor tracks eastwards from the Atlantic Ocean.
The advisory states: “Storm Eleanor will move in off the Atlantic later this afternoon and will move very quickly across the country this evening. Southwest to west winds of mean speeds 65 to 80 km/h, gusting to 110 to 130 km/h., are expected. Very high seas along Atlantic coasts, with a risk of coastal flooding also.”
The advisory is valid from 4pm until to 9pm on Tue 02 Jan 2018.
A second weather advisory a YELLOW Wind Warning (for Ireland) is in effect until 9pm on Wednesday 03 Jan 2018, as south west to west winds of mean speeds 55 to 65 km/h., gusting 90 to 110 km/h., will develop and will continue overnight and throughout Wednesday.
High tide this afternoon (Tuesday 02 Jan 2018) is expected at 6.37pm with a further high tide scheduled for 6.57am on Wednesday (03 Jan 2018). It is anticipated that there may be localised flooding resulting from the windy conditions combined with high tide.
Limerick City and County Council has continued to maintain its demountable flood defence barriers along the city quays and boardwalks which have been in place since the New Year’s Holiday.
Sandbags have been placed in vulnerable areas such as near Sarsfield House, Merchant’s Quay by Limerick Courthouse, along with defences in Foynes and Askeaton.
Duty engineers will continue to monitor the situation.
The local authority is urging people to be careful close to open water and mindful of strong winds.
For more information about being prepared for adverse weather conditions, visit www.winterready.ie
Limerick City and County Council has also been in contact with the HSE and Gardaí, part of the #LKWorkingTogether group.