The arrival of Storm Debi in the early hours of Monday morning will have evoked memories of when its near namesake, Hurricane Debbie, brought devastation to Donegal more than sixty years ago.
This week’s Storm Debi, which began on Monday morning and was heralded by a weather warning brought disruption to several parts of the county, including trapping residents in their homes in Dunfanaghy.
It also brought flooding to areas of Letterkenny, Buncrana and Dun Luiche.
It was a totally different story back in September 1961 when the tail end of Hurricane Debbie struck Donegal and caused unprecedented devastation across the island.
Tragically, the 1961 storm caused 18 deaths across the island and the repair bill ran into the millions.
Sadly, Donegal did not escape the fatalities from Hurricane Debbie as a 23 year-old women from Burnfoot, Susan McDermott, was killed by a fallen branch while cycling home form work.
Winds in excess of 100 miles per hour lashed Donegal with the strongest gust of 113 miles per hour recorded at the Met Éireann weather station at Malin Head – a record which still stands to this day.
Headlines in The Derry People (Donegal News) in September 1961 described it as ‘Ireland’s Worst Storm in Sixty Years’ and reported on power failures, blocked roads and trains being delayed.
The September 23rd edition of the paper said: “The hurricane which swept through Donegal on Saturday has left a trail of damaged houses, churches, barns, outhouses, boats, fences and all the rest in its wake. Not for many years has there been a trail of devastation so widespread.
“Roofs were swept off several dwellings, windows were blown in, gates were swept to the ground and whirled away in the wind. At farms, many thousands of pounds were lost through corn and other crops being damaged. Many crops hardest hit were left with blackened stalks as if a sudden attack of blight had struck.”
The paper reported that “businesses came to a near standstill” in Letterkenny as “the storm created havoc.” It reported that slates were blown off roofs in the town centre with Main Street left strewn with broken glass and debris.
A stained glass window at St Eunan’s Cathedral was broken by the storm and the building also sustained damage to its roof. The roofs of the court house and garda station were also damaged, along with many TV aerials.
“The door was ripped off a telephone kiosk at Court House Square and blown along Port Road,” the paper recorded.
St Conal’s Hospital was particularly badly hit. “Whole stretches of the roof were torn off. Part of the surrounding wall was tumbled by a falling tree. The wind swept inside the building and wrecked some dormitories and other quarters. Doors were hammered and broken by the ferocity of the storm,” the coverage continued.
The Derry People also reported that the county was left without power, including at St Eunan’s Cathedral for the celebration of Masses on Sunday morning.
Phone lines were also ripped down by the storm, leaving Donegal virtually cut off from the rest of the country.
“There was almost a complete breakdown in telephonic communications. Lines to Dublin and most centres outside the county were broken down. Even within the county there was widespread damage and few lines were left undamaged.”
It was reported that ESB staff were working “well past midnight” in an attempt to reconnect power lines and that at Lifford Post Office, “staff were compelled to work by candlelight.”
Holidaymakers were also caught up in the storm chaos with caravans “toppled and sent hurly burly in the wind” at Marble Hill, Portnablagh, with some being swept to the water’s edge.
The paper also carried an interesting report from the Glenties area which detailed the extent of the storm. “At the height of the storm the spray from mountain lakes was carried miles away. Roofs were denuded of thatch and slates and zinc roofs were swept hundreds of yards away.”
Thankfully Donegal escaped such weather excesses this week and while Storm Debi brought inconvenience with localised flooding and downed trees, the damaged paled in significance compared to the tragic devastation brought by Hurricane Debbie more than than sixty years previously.
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