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The Perfect Storm, Lahinch style


Eric Bruening

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Weather in Ireland rarely produces the extremes we experience in the States. No hurricanes or tornadoes, no earthquakes or blizzards. While this may be the case, winter weather in Ireland can leave much to be desired. A perfect example came just after New Years Day of 2014. High tide met high winds and a incoming ocean swell, resulting in Irelands version of a perfect storm. 

 

The brunt of the storm hit overnight, but it did not sneak up on anyone. Weather services predicted a bad storm, but the level of severity was unknown. What resulted was waves reaching higher than light poles and wind that made standing stationary nearly impossible. 

 

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View of flooding from on top of the 3rd fairway. The course goes as far as the first fence line you see on the right. Then there is a parking lot for the boardwalk area and the small building at right is the lifeguard house. If you can make them out, the waves were reaching overtop of the light poles on the right side of the photo to give you a sense of the intensity of the storm.

 

The morning after revealed damaged concrete along the boardwalk, large rocks scattered and intensive flooding. The golf courses close proximity to the ocean resulted in damage to the course as well. 

 

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Damage done to the boardwalk area by the storm.

 

Flooding with salt water was the first issue facing the crew at Lahinch. By design, the sand dunes that the course was built on have quality draining, so removing salinity entailed flushing it out. Unfortunately, any water soluble nutrients are flushed out with the salt, so supplemental nutrients were added. 

 

After the water receded it revealed trash littered everywhere. Over 500 trash bags were filled by member and community volunteers, to put in perspective how much trash was washed onto the course. 

 

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Above, trash left in the wake of theflooding. This picture is taken in a low native area short left of the 3rd green. Below, after cleanup.

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The storm was described to me as a 'once in 100 years' storm, and I'm sure everyone in Lahinch would be content if that were the case.

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