Woman dies as Storm Ali wreaks havoc across Galway

Storm Ali wreaked havoc through most of the West of Ireland on Wednesday morning leaving one woman dead, dozens of blocked roads and thousands of people without power across the region.

The storm was at its most intense in Galway from around 7am until shortly after 10am with many people describing it as the most intense period of wind they had experienced for many years. One gust at Mace Head reached a speed of 143 kilometres per hour (88mph).

A leading Galway farming representative and a Connemara councillor have publicly questioned why the storm did not attract a status red warning from Met Éireann, given the severity of its impact across the county.

The storm had tragic consequences for a Swiss woman in her 50s who was staying in a caravan at Acton’s Beachside Eco Caravan and Camping Park at Claddaghduff, Clifden.

Her caravan was blown over a cliff edge and onto rocks and the nearby beach about 30 feet below, shortly before 8am on Wednesday morning – she was later pronounced dead at the scene having received serious head and body injuries. It is understood that the woman had been staying in the Clifden area over the past few weeks.

One local person from the Clifden area contacted by the Connacht Tribune yesterday described Storm Ali as worse than anything he had ever experienced in his lifetime.

“From around 7am to 10am, it just never abated. I have never seen winds like it. It must have just ‘taken’ the caravan and flipped it over the rocks. It was awful,” he said.

A Garda spokesman confirmed that the dead woman had been taken to University Hospital Galway for a post mortem examination on Wednesday and that they were in the process yesterday of trying to contact the dead woman’s next of kin.

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