Political storm: When Ophelia met Leo

It’s not just trees that can be felled by extreme weather. Political reputations can also be toppled by the winds - the real ones, not just those of change.

Of course, we can't blame politicians for extreme weather events, although we all know deep down that they must be, at least, partly responsible! It's how they respond that matters. The old chestnut - fail to prepare, prepare to fail - applies.

Of course, it helps if the meteorological forecasters do their job properly.

Back in 1987, the UK Met Office failed to predict the powerful tail end of a hurricane that resulted in more than 20 deaths in Britain.

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This time Met Eireann was spot on, and the response of services here very much erred on the side of caution. But can you ever overreact to an extreme weather event? Here is our main story on how the State responded.

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, it took a few days for then-president George W Bush to visit the site, and then it involved a cursory flyover. It cemented in people’s minds the image of a president at a remove from the lives of ordinary people.

We have seen far worse behaviour from Donald Trump in his crass self-centred comments on Puerto Rico following the hurricane that devastated the island recently. He attacked the mayor because she had the temerity to question the federal response. But with Trump, the normal rules never apply.

Here in Ireland, politicians have taken a battering for their response to the aftermath of past weather events.

In the winter of 2010/2011 there was a prolonged deep freeze. It quickly became clear that local authorities did not have adequate plans in action to grit the roads, and supplies of gritting salt quickly ran out. The result was gridlock on roads and dangerous conditions.

The minister for transport at the time was Noel Dempsey, who did not hurry back from his holidays abroad and received a barrage of criticism.

Likewise, in the winter of 2015/2016 taoiseach of the day Enda Kenny and ministers were criticised for tardiness in responding to families losing homes when there was extensive flooding. Like all politicians, they then overcompensated.

Political response needs to be timely and appropriate. There has to be a visible sign of the politician being involved. There are famous images of Bertie Ahern wading through flood waters in his wellies when the River Tolka burst its banks in his constituency.

Likewise, for Ophelia, every Minister that had even the slightest involvement with the response was at battle stations.

The National Emergency Co-ordination Group has become an impressive forum for public assurance and public information. Everything is under the direct political direction of the relevant Ministers - as was evident yesterday, with all being present at all times (and visible).

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar had obviously studied the Bertie playbook. Over the critical 24 hours, he never took his hand off the tiller.