Council on standby for Storm Jorge flooding

Galway City Council crews will be on standby from Saturday afternoon as Storm Jorge is set to hit the West coast, bringing very strong winds, rain and potential for flooding.

The Council’s Severe Weather Assessment Team met today and will be holding meetings tomorrow and Saturday to monitor the weather forecast and put in place a plan to deal with any potential flooding or wind damage.

Storm Jorge – which was named by Spanish meteorological services and adopted by Met Éireann and the UK’s Met Office to avoid confusion – will see a Status Orange wind warning in place from 6am Saturday to 3am Sunday. A Status Yellow rain warning will be in place in Galway from midnight tonight until midnight Saturday.

The storm will bring southwest, veering west and later northwest winds with means speeds of 65-80km/h and gusts of 110-130km/h.

Rainfall accumulations of 20 to 30mm are expected and Met Éireann has warned of an increased risk of coastal flooding.

The City Council will have crews on standby from 2pm on Saturday and will close the two public carparks in Salthill if it is considered necessary.