‘Keep elderly safe’ during Storm Hannah, bishop warns

The bishop of Killaloe has called for parishioners to watch out for their elderly relatives, friends and neighbours after a red weather warning was issued for Co. Clare by Met Éireann.

As Storm Hannah approaches, Ireland’s forecaster has warned that power outages are likely, and to be careful of falling trees and high waves.

Intense winds reaching speeds of over 80km/h with gusts reaching 150km/h are expected to batter the west and south-west regions of the country.

Bishop Fintan Monahan told this paper: “The obvious thing for people to look out for are elderly relatives and neighbours and friends and make sure their kept safe, mind them as much as possible.

“Follow the guidance of insurance companies in relation to repairs afterwards especially with the damage that might be created with loose slates.”

Showing confidence in parishes in combatting the effects of a storm he said: “Generally parish administrative groups are very good at looking after things like that. Even in places that may not have a weekly Mass the locals tend to look after them very well.”

The status red weather warning in Co. Clare, the most severe of Met Éireann’s alerts, is valid from 8-11pm today (April 26).

There are status orange wind warnings for Clare, Cork, Kerry and Limerick valid from 4pm today until 1am and in Galway from 7pm until midnight. Tipperary and Waterford have the same status from today at 10pm until 2am. People are advised to take in BBQ equipment, garden furniture and other loose items and to stay away from coastal areas.

Met Éireann says the warning “implies that recipients take action to protect themselves and/or their properties; this could be by moving their families out of the danger zone temporarily; by staying indoors; or by other specific actions aimed at mitigating the effects of the weather conditions”.

Bishop Monahan added: “Look out for buildings that may not be attended as much as possible, generally Allianz give very good guidance in their periodicals that they send out about looking after buildings that might not be attended and might not have residents in them.

“Keep an eye out and secure them as much as possible. Make sure if slates are loose that that is dealt with as timely as possible afterwards. Hopefully it won’t be as bad as forecast.”