The amazing thing about Storm Ali last week is that it didn’t cause more casualties. The number of trees felled (or that lost large branches) was huge, and much of the damage occurred during the morning commute. The amount of damage to trees was amazing (they were still heavy with leaves, so they were particularly vulnerable to high winds). In Galway, everything seems to be have been sandblasted from the seaspray. I live about two kilometres from the sea and the damage done to the plants around my house by the wind is severe. The tree (above) is on the street outside my house. As the photo shows, the south-facing side has been blasted by the wind, and many of the leaves are gone or withered. The street is lined with trees, and all of them are similarly damaged. Similarly, I had pots of dahlias in my back garden, which is well-sheltered by high walls. Didn’t matter – most of them are shredded now (the one pictured below survived best of the lot, but still…)
