Storm Ciara lashed the country but it was the electorate which blew away the old political order in Ireland.
Gone are the big two and now for the first time in modern history Sinn Fein has matched Fine Gael and Fianna Fail in their level of support.
If RTE’s exit poll is to be believed there is an almost dead heat between the three big parties.
This has been Sinn Fein’s election while it appears that Fine Gael’s support has crashed compared to when they first came to power in 2011.
It will be all down to transfers but on the face of it Sinn Fein will be powerbrokers when it comes to forming a new government.
It is now clear that younger people are turning to the Shinners in the hope that they can solve the housing and health service crises.
Fianna Fail will be disappointed they could not pull clear of Fine Gael and Sinn Fein.
If the exit poll results are correct it appears there was no Green surge although the party did well while Labour remains in the doldrums and may lose TDs.
Leo Varadkar now runs the risk of going down in history as the half-term unelected Taoiseach.
The people appear to have voted not just for chance by for decency and a caring society which looks after everyone.
What they rejected was Fine Gael's us and their attitude encapsulated in Leo Varadkar's claims that he was looking after those who get up early in the morning.
The people looked around and saw the society that Fine Gael Gael had created and voted to stop the further drift into Leo Varadaka's neo-Thatcherism and this is reflected in the massive swing to Sinn Fein.
They rejected a society that can afford a e20million white water rafting playground for the rich but condemns a pregnant woman to live in a tent in the Phoenix Park.
It was the "H" election where housing. Housing, homlessness and healthcare. But it looks as if the citizens went for another "H".... hope.
Fine Gael's election campaign was a disaster from the start and for one specific reason. They couldn't defend their record and they knew it.
Despite the bluster and bravado their body language betrayed them.
Their claim of being the party of fiscal probity had been blown apart when they needlessly wasted billions of euro of taxpayers' money on project overruns.
Despite all the mud slinging in the last week the people had made up their minds that change must come and in doing so the political landscape has changed.
