"I was just talking to the next door neighbour - she reckons that over in the west of the country, in Cork, they're copping it big time over there. So it's kind of moving its way across now."
Met Eireann has issued a status red wind warning for all of Ireland, saying the storm is set to track over western parts of the country during the day today (Monday local time).
"Violent and destructive gusts of 120 to 150km/h are forecast countrywide and in excess of these values in some very exposed hilly and coastal areas,'' the warning said.
"The most severe winds over Munster and south Leinster at present will extend quickly to the rest of the country this afternoon (local time).
"Also heavy rain and storm surges along some coasts will result in flooding. There is a danger to life and property.''
Pirihi, who works for an electricity provider and is originally from Whangarei, said everything in the backyard had either been put away or tied down.
He had caught the tram into work and was almost immediately told to go back home and stay safe.
He described the streets as "eerie''.
"It was hairy as - freaky as. It was like a horror movie. It was all grey and gloomy, no cars on the road.
"I normally get the tram down and even the trams were all empty this morning as well." The bus services had all stopped at 10am and were not expected to be running any time soon.
"[The authorities have said] just to stay in, batten down the hatches and don't make any unnecessary trips. "Stay home and stay safe pretty much seems to be the word on the street at the moment.
"We're kind of just watching the news and doing all of that. They think it's going to move across to us, to hit Dublin, and then across to Wales over in the UK."
Pirihi, who has lived in Ireland for about 14 years, said as well as keeping his family safe, he would be putting in a few calls to other family members - including his mother - to let them know they were okay.
