Government to provide support for homes and businesses destroyed by Leitrim tornado

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar meets first responders in Leitrim Village in Co Leitrim, after a tornado and high winds on Sunday flattened trees, ripped a roof off a building and left debris scattered on a street. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Taoiseach has said it is a "blessing" that there were no fatalities in a mini-tornado that ripped through Leitrim village.

High winds tore through Leitrim village on Sunday afternoon and ripped the roof off a building, causing severe damage to a number of others.

Leitrim County Council said nobody was seriously injured during the "freak weather incident".

Leo Varadkar has visited the village where he met with locals whose homes and businesses were destroyed on Sunday.

He said the Government will provide a package to help with the cost of repair, "so that people can get back into their house, hopefully before Christmas".

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (second left) views the damage to properties in Leitrim Village in Co Leitrim. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

"I think in many ways, we are blessed that nobody was seriously injured or killed, given the level of damage that was done and the force of the wind that ripped through here, and I'll be going back to Dublin later today, a Cabinet meeting tomorrow, I'm very keen to put in place the support that people here need and that extends to businesses, that extends to households."

The village's main street remained closed this morning as council crew members assessed the damage, which also saw several cars hit with flying debris, trees being uprooted and some walls being knocked over. 

Damaged vehicles in Leitrim Village in Co Leitrim. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Several boats that were moored at the local jetty were also overturned. 

Collette Scollan is a resident of the village, and was having breakfast with family when the tornado hit:

"It was like the storm picked up really badly, we thought the place was shaking. We thought that maybe there was an explosion," Ms Scollan said. 

"The power went off, the alarms went off. We were told to evacuate and that is when we saw the destruction and debris on the street. 

"A car had been hit with some wood or pole and there had been a lot of structural damage. The road was covered in debris," she added. 

Seamus Gibbons, owner of Electric Bike Trails, said the mini-tornado took "everything across the road from me". 

"It seemed to sweep off the back of the pub and came across my place and literally shredded the roof and it is a big roof and it had to be made safe last night," Mr Gibbons said. 

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (right) views the damage to a house and garden in Leitrim Village in Co Leitrim. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

In a statement on Sunday, Leitrim County Council said the clean-up operation was under way in the village to clear the "significant amount of debris" that was thrown onto the footpaths as a result.

"The main R280 road passing through the village has been closed and will remain closed until such time as Storm Fergus has passed and a further assessment of the structural damage within the village has been carried out.

"This assessment will be carried out in conjunction with external consulting engineers. When the council is satisfied that it is safe to do so, the road and footpaths through the village will be reopened at that point," they added.

According to Met Éireann, there are on average 10 tornados in Ireland every year — however, many are highly localised and only affect a small area for just a few minutes. 

Forecast

A capsized boat in the harbour at Leitrim Village in Co Leitrim. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Meanwhile, Monday is to start off dry with some sunny spells before rain later develops in the west and southwest at about noon, before spreading to the east through the afternoon and evening and becoming heavy at times. 

The rain will then continue to move northeastwards later that night before it starts to clear. Temperatures are set to drop as low as 3C. 

Tuesday then will see a fair amount of dry weather and a few showers, mainly in the morning, before some bright or sunny intervals develop.

It will remain mainly dry over Tuesday night with some scattered showers expected. 

Looking further into the week, Met Éireann said it would remain unsettled with "rain or showers early on", however, it is expected to become less windy and drier by mid-week.