RSS
News


Home Page > News > Residents' lucky escape as Dublin apartment building roof blown off in storm

Blogs


comment on article 3 Comments
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail

Residents' lucky escape as Dublin apartment building roof blown off in storm

It was just like 'The Wizard of Oz,' says shocked resident

By
DONAL THORNTON,
Irish Central.com

Published Wednesday, November 25, 2009, 10:34 AM
Updated Thursday, November 26, 2009, 9:48 PM

 

Bookmark and Share

Roof blown off: The scene at Carrrickmines Manor in Dublin where storm force winds blew the roof of an apartment building
Roof blown off: The scene at Carrrickmines Manor in Dublin where storm force winds blew the roof of an apartment building

Gale force storms have blown the roof off an apartment building in Dublin.

Three apartment blocks have been evacuated after the roof tore off the building at about 8.30 a.m. Irish time.

Witnesses said the roof came "clean off" the building and flipped over into a nearby field.

Residents of the newly-completed block which housed 28 apartments are being out up in a local hotel.

One witness said that the tenants had had a lucky escape. "If it the roof had gone the other way [away from field], it would have been a disaster," he said.

Hazel Melbourne, 32, said it was just like a scene from the "Wizard of Oz" when the roof flew past her second floor apartment at 8.30am.

“I was sitting on my couch putting on my make-up and getting ready for work when the roof literally flew by me,” she said.

“There was a massive bang and it crashed on a portable building out the back. We were very lucky it went in that direction, otherwise it would have come through the glass.”

A local politician has demanded a full audit on all high-rise buildings in elevated areas.

Fine Gael TD Olivia Mitchell said such an audit was needed to avoid disaster in another incident.

"I believe a full safety audit on all high rise buildings in elevated areas must be carried out immediately in order to avoid disaster in the future. We need to establish that all such buildings were finished to the relevant wind speed regulations which apply at these elevations.

"As well as inhabited apartment blocks there are dozens of empty and half-completed apartment block buildings in this elevated area," she said. "Some of these are in the hands of receivers or are about to pass into the control of Nama."

print this article Print
email this articleE-mail


3 Comments

It may take several minutes for your comment to appear.
Report abuse
Posted by newyorklass on Dec 04, 2009, 11:15 AM EST
Sorry for those affected -- the must have really stringent building codes -- NOT !!!! New construction sucks.
Report abuse
Posted by cabbagehead44 on Nov 28, 2009, 01:29 PM EST
Terrible! What kind of building materials are they using to build these apartment buildings and what inspections have there been to insure safety standards?
Report abuse
Posted by PaddyDeMucker on Nov 25, 2009, 06:39 PM EST
Wonder was this bulit by one of Fianna Fail's shoddy developer friends, the crowd that used to frequent the Galway Tint.
 


Click to learn more from DiscoverIreland.com.
IrishCentral Mobile QR code


Connect to IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or sign-in directly

Welcome to IrishCentral!
Please provide the following information in order to create your account

Username:
E-Mail Address:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy


Welcome to IrishCentral!
All we need is the following information and you will be part of the #1 Irish community in the US

E-Mail Address:
First select a unique username:
Username:
Now choose a password:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Thank you!

Just one more step and you will be part of the largest Irish community in America! Tell us a little more about you to start enjoying all the features of IrishCentral.

Additional Information:

First Name:
Last Name:
Date of Birth:
Zip:
Gender: Male  Female 
Country:
Degree of Irishness:
Household Income:
Level of Education:

Subscribe to our newsletters:

The Best of IrishCentral - Daily Newsletter
Special Offers from our sponsors

or
Skip

You can edit your information at any time, just go to "my account" when you're logged in.

Log into IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or sign-in directly

E-Mail:
Password:
 Remember me Forgot my password