Livestock were killed, buildings severely damaged and farmers left “devastated” by a “tornado like” weather event which has hit parts of Co. Wexford.
Wexford farmer Willie John Kehoe told Agriland that the storm yesterday (Wednesday, November 2) had a “devastating” impact on one farm in the area.
He said livestock have been killed and a number may have to be “euthanised” after what is being described as a “tornado like” weather event in parts of Co. Wexford.
Kehoe said: “There are no buildings left in the farmyard. There are no roofs left on any of the livestock sheds or farm buildings. You would have to see it to believe it.
“Our own yard is only a few hundred meters from the line where the destruction occurred.”
It is understood that one of the farms worst effected by the bizarre weather event was a dairy farm located between Foulkesmills and Clongeen, Co. Wexford.
Kehoe said: “It was a rough day’s weather yesterday with the wind and the rain. Shortly after 1:00p.m yesterday conditions got really bad really quick.
“It must of been a tornado or something because if you had a drone you could actually see the line of damage. The high wind lasted for maybe a minute at most but it did a huge amount of damage in that time.”
Willie told Agriland: “There’s about a dozen houses completely destroyed. The roofs are blown off them. It’s like something you’d see in the hurricane season out in Florida.”
Met Éireann statement
Speaking to Agriland, a spokesperson from Met Éireann also said: “There is definitely potential that it was a tornado.”
The spokesperson added that weather conditions seen in the area at the time of the event have been known to cause tornadoes, but Met Éireann cannot confirm it was a tornado as it has not yet carried out a site survey.
The spokesperson also noted that based on images from the scene, a tornado could possibly have been the cause of the destruction in some parts.
Met Éireann receives an estimated 15 reports of tornadoes in Ireland each year.