Teens draw backlash for diving off pier in massive storm

Sunday, December 6, 2015, 8:12 AM - Storm Desmond, a massively powerful system, has caused major flooding and damage in the British Isles. 

And apparently, the teens in the video below decided it was a good opportunity to play with their lives.

Cathal Devlin filmed the teens' stunt, in Salthill on the Republic of Ireland's west coast, and posted the video to Facebook on Friday. At one point, two of the teens actually dive into the water, whipped up into a dangerous surf.

Although they appear to be unharmed, Devlin doesn't mince words about how incredibly foolish they were to tempt fate in such rough seas.

"If any one of them got into difficulties there was no one there to do anything for them," Devlin wrote below the video, which has drawn more than a million views so far. "The voluntary and rescue services are kept busy enough without having to worry about this type of stupid behaviour."

Devlin was referring to the fact emergency services had their hands full trying to handle the fallout from Storm Devlin.

The Irish met office lifted a national "Status Red" warning early Sunday morning, but flooding from the storm caused major road closures, power cuts and flooding, particularly in the west of the country. Around 11,000 customers lost power, the Irish Times reports.

In Great Britain, hundreds of homes in Scotland and northern England were flooded, with the army mobilized to assist in evacuations. Around 60,000 people were without power, and some train lines were disrupted.

At least one person has died as a result of the storm, a 90-year-old man whom the BBC says was blown into the path of a bus by Desmond's strong winds.

As for those teens, they were lucky to escape apparently unharmed.

In August, a powerful storm system in Ontario brought tornadoes to that province, along with strong winds that whipped up the waters of Lake Huron into a dangerous surf.

A 16-year-old boy from Goderich drowned after going under off the pier in Kincardine in the rough waves. Aside from making it difficult for swimmers, emergency services said the conditions severely hampered their search and rescue efforts.

SOURCE: The Irish Times | BBC | Kincardine News