North Atlantic Skyline - - Photographs from the west of Ireland (Galway, Mayo, Clare, Limerick, Roscommon and even Leitrim)

Salthill Flooded Again

A combination of a very high tide and storm force winds meant that Salthill got another lashing from the sea yesterday. More pics to follow later this evening [Update March 06: it will be tomorrow evening before I can post some more pics - my NTL Broadband went offline yesterday. Did anyone else in Galway have this problem ?].Update March 08: Bit more below.

Every time there's a storm in Galway Bay, the same bunch of vultures congregate in Salthill. There are rich pickings there. The high seas and the waves that break across the promenade always attract an audience. Some people are content to sit in their cars in the Promenade car parks and let the spray from the waves crash over them (and every wave probably takes a few months off the life of the car), but most folks like to brave the waves - standing right on the edge of the prom and dodging the waves as they break along the shore. And that's where people like me come in.

Every time I've gone down to the Promenade, there's always a few souls who, despite the weather, are dressed for a summer's day, and pay no attention to the waves crashing over the footpath as they stroll. And the chances are, those are the people that will get drenched, hopefully, in as photographically pleasing a manner as possible. So, just like the last time, I was there, camera in hand, watching strollers, joggers and cyclists and hoping that, if a wave would get them, it would happen right in front of me. OK, I was just hoping a wave would get them. [I should point out that there is very little chance of being washed into the sea. Apart from the lunatics that stand on top of the Blackrock diving area during a storm].

If there was any natural justice, the people that would the biggest drenching would be people like me. I came close enough to it on Sunday - the picture above shows a wave that was a good bit bigger than all the other ones. Other members of the Galway Camera Club were not so lucky - I bumped into a Sean on the Prom late on Sunday - he was going home to dry off . He did get his shot, though.

I've added a short gallery a here - the park just west of Seapoint on the Promenade was flooded (again) due to the waves, and roadworks begun outside the Aquarium were washed away (hence the gravel and bollards scattered all over the road). One poor gentleman on a bike tried to cycle along the prom with his dog by his side - the dog didn't seem to mind but the chap got a right drenching - you might just see him under the wave in the last picture as he was washed off the path.