A WEST Cork emergency doctor has questioned if people are taking weather warnings seriously after noting the car park at Gougane Barra last Sunday was packed, during the Storm Ashley yellow wind warning.
Dr Jason Van der Velde of West Cork Rapid Response (WCRR) was at the site for the rescue of a young woman who broke her leg while climbing a nearby mountain, with a group.
‘The alarm was raised around lunchtime to the National Ambulance Service (NAS) and I attended, along with members of the Civil Defence and Fire Brigade. The whole rescue took almost three to four hours and we had to carry her down the mountain. She was later transferred to CUH,’ he told The Southern Star.
‘What struck me most on arrival was that the car park was full, despite the yellow wind warning,’ he said. ‘While many of those were walking in the woods, it still meant they had to travel to get to Gougane Barra and there had been several reports of trees down during the storm.’ The emergency doctor questioned why people would travel during such dangerous conditions, especially to climb mountains.
‘You get told not to travel due to bad conditions, but yet the car park on Sunday was full like a normal day. People really need to adhere to these weather warnings,’ he urged.
Just over the border, Kerry was under an orange wind warning and the storm caused a power outage in nearby Ballingeary and other areas including Timoleague, Ballydehob and Béal na Bláth, while downed trees blocked several roads across the county.
This week Fine Gael Senator Tim Lombard said the ‘one size fits all’ method of weather warnings isn’t working.
‘You have to ask if the current county-wide weather warning systems are adequate for a county the size of Cork – or if there is a case to be made for more localised warnings,’ he said.
He said rainfall during the recent flooding event in Bantry was at ‘red warning levels’ in some locations, when over 65mm of rain fell in less than 12 hours. ‘I appreciate the impact of a red warning in terms of the economic impact, but perhaps there is merit in more localised warnings, including red warnings, if necessary, to ensure that communities are adequately warned.’
Sen Lombard also suggested that there is an issue with ‘weather warning fatigue’ with people becoming complacent with so many very general warnings.
‘Someone in North Cork might have very little rain compared to West Cork, and people may be more inclined to take risks. This was something Cork County Council raised after Storm Babet when Midleton got flooded – but it hasn’t been progressed with Met Éireann. From a local authority perspective, Cork county is divided into three areas – west, north and south. This would make sense for weather warnings also and would assist the local authority in terms of planning during severe weather.’
