Tourist caught up in ‘horrific’ mini tornado

A DUBLIN man whose family were caught up in a mini tornado as they slept in their tents at a West Cork camping site last Friday night has described their experience as ‘horrific’.

Joe O’Connor, his wife, and their daughter had been camping at Eagle Point Camping in Ballylickey when their tent ended up in the path of a freak ‘water spout’ which turned their large tent upside down, while wrecking a caravan next to them.

Speaking to The Southern Star, Joe, who lives in Portlaoise and is now back at home recovering with a cracked knee, said it was a miracle they all survived the freak weather event. ‘I came down last Friday evening to join up with my wife and daughter who arrived the night before. Our tent was well secured with about 30 pegs holding it down and we even had a television in it. The weather was also fine,’ said Joe. However, at around 2am while they slept, the rain got heavier, waking them up, and Joe said the wind came out of nowhere.

‘As I stood up in the middle of the tent, the wind took the side of the tent and took us off and ripped the tent off the  ground. I  lost all sense of direction and I was sliding around – it was horrific.’

Joe ended up hitting his head off the wing mirror of his car which was parked next to the tent, and broke the indicator. 

‘The tent literally took flight and the bottom part separated from the tent frame, and that’s when I came down and hit the car. My wife and daughter (9) were at the very back of the tent and they were terrified. Getting out of the tent, which was all in a heap, was the tough part but I managed to get out and tried to find the back door to get them out. They eventually got out safely, but were very shook up.’

Remarkably, the tent next to them escaped any damage and Joe tidied up the debris around his tent, which was wrapped around his car.

‘It looks like a water spout came in from the sea, hit the mobile home and came up and caught our tent, and another tent, and went back out to sea. There was definitely a path of destruction.’

Joe and his family left the next morning. His knee took the full wallop off the alloy on his car wheel and he attended Portlaoise Hospital on Monday. He has a cracked knee and is off work for a period.

‘It could have been a lot worse and only for the car, God knows where we could have ended up. We are blessed and just happy to be safe, and nothing else matters.’

Joe said they love visiting West Cork but quipped they may not go camping on their next visit down south.