Gale force winds, high tides and flooding cause chaos bringing destruction and tragedy across the country.
Dundalk experienced its worst flooding in 30 years. A man went missing when flood water cut off the railway carriage he was believed to be living in near the Racecourse Road in Dundalk. All emergency services in the area are on high alert for a high tide which is expected after midnight. Traffic diversions are in place across the town.
Bray in County Wicklow was one of the worst hit areas along the east coast with some cars submerged and abandoned. 8,000 families in the areas of Bray and Ballybrack are without gas as a result of a fracture in the mains caused by the storm. Customers have been advised to turn off the gas at the mains. Supply will not be restored until each of the households have been visited. Bray Fire Brigade continue to clear roads in the area and are on alert for high tides tonight.
At Bohernabreena near Tallaght, a tree fell on a car injuring a father and three children. There was further tragedy in Rathfarnham where 70 year old Mrs Elisabeth Darcy was killed when a portable hut fell from a lorry and struck her near her home.
At Sandymount and Clontarf, high tides and strong gales up to storm force ten pushed the sea water over the walls. This resulted in up to three inches of flooding in houses along the seafront. Cars also had difficulty getting through the flood waters. CIÉ say there are no buses in the area tonight due to flooding at the Clontarf depot.
Further south in Cork city, there was thousands of pounds worth of damage caused by the flood waters.
The flooding was totally unexpected and with heavy Christmas stocks on hand, traders suffered badly.
Heavy rain, gale force winds and high tides resulted in water flowing up through the drains on low lying Oliver Plunkett Street. Traders in the area were angry over the lack of warning. Motorists who persisted in driving through the flooded streets further added to the problems. While this area of Cork city is used to flooding, this was the worst that traders had seen since the early 1960s.
At one stage, water was nearly three feet high.
As a result of regular flooding in the area, traders face difficulty getting insurance cover.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 13 December 1981. The reporters are Mary Fanning and Tom MacSweeney.
