Kathy describes the panic as tornado strikes The Blueway Lodge

Kathy Earley was working in The Blueway Inn at the time a tornado hit Leitrim Village, where she was helping out as she does every weekend.
The bed and breakfast was established around three years ago with the owners renovating the premises during the pandemic.
Kathy said there was no warning when the tornado hit and that she was serving breakfast when she felt a strange pressure in her head. “It was like when your ears pop in a plane.”
She said the sky then “went really grey and really dark and then the noise started. I thought huge articulated lorries were coming through the village and that's what had blocked out the light but then the door swung open and dust and debris started coming in and through the windows.”
At this point, the building started to shake. “I remember trying to figure out what had happened and the first thing I thought was there had been an explosion in the kitchen? Then I could see from where I was standing that everything was OK. Then I wondered if it was an earthquake.”
Panic started to set in at this stage with staff officially directing customers to the carpark at the back.
“We have a large car park out the back in an open space and we started directing people there but very quickly realised that this was a weather issue.
“There were trees flattened and cars covered in debris. We couldn't go out the front either because debris was literally pouring in the windows. Then we got the smell of gas.”
Kathy said that as the staff and customers reached the front door they could see it was “calm but it was just carnage outside. There was debris everywhere. One car that had been driving through the village was in the middle of the road. The roof of the house next door was lifted off the building and slates and flower pots were all over the ground. Some of the rafters went straight through the windshield of this car.”
She said the barman went straight over to the car to assist those inside.
“When we saw the car, we thought we had casualties and I instantly rang the emergency services. We were knocking on doors to try and get neighbours out of the houses and make sure everyone was OK. I was sending staff members in to make sure the building was clear.”

Read full story in this week's Leitrim Observer...