Motorist killed in Donegal as violent winds wreaked havoc on homes and facilities402,000 customers remain without electricity, as ESB Networks say 366,000 have had theirs restoredNew Status Yellow warnings have been issued for 18 counties
Storm Éowyn will go down as Ireland’s costliest weather event in terms of the clean-up and insurance bills, with some homes braced for a week without power.
ESB Networks has restored power to 366,000 homes, farms and businesses impacted.
There are approximately 402,000 customers across the country without power as of Saturday evening, down from a peak of 768,000 customers yesterday.
ESB Networks acknowledged that “the impact on customers and damage to the electricity network nationwide is unprecedented”.
“Our crews are out on the ground. They’ve been out all morning, restoring power and assessing the damage out on site,” she told RTÉ Radio One’s Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin.
Ms Wynne said it may be a few days before power is restored to some customers.
“We would be hoping to get a large numbers of customers restored over the course of this weekend, but for the really badly impacted areas, we will be looking at over a week for those customers.
“We are aware that there is further impending weather on the horizon. We’re monitoring it, and we will assess whether that’s going to impact us. It may hamper our restoration effort, but we will continue and we just assess it as we go along.
“We have been in contact with other utilities in both the UK and in other European utilities, so we’re just awaiting to hear back from them in terms of their own damage and whether they’re going to be able to release crews to us.”
The ESB is appealing to people to be vigilant of fallen wires.
“We are aware that there have been a couple of potentially dangerous incidents out there for members of the public [who] have unknowingly come across fallen conductor, maybe buried deep, hidden underneath trees, and they didn’t realise there were wires there.
“So we just really want to emphasise the fact that it is really dangerous, [be] extra vigilant, and if they do come across wires, to please report them to us on our emergency number,” she added.
More than 120,000 people were still without water at lunchtime today, Irish Water have said.
Head of water operations at Irish Water, Margaret Attridge, told RTÉ’s One O’Clock News: “Over the course of today, we will be continuing to get generators out to site, to get treatment plants back into production.
“Where we cannot connect up a generator now, we have alternative water supplies in the form of tankers going out, situated in locations in communities like church, car parks, GAA pitch grounds. Information of where those locations are can be found on our website,” she added.
The threat of more stormy weather at the beginning of next week could further hamper the clean-up.
New warnings
A Status Yellow snow and ice warning is in place for counties Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo from 8pm tonight until 9am on Sunday.
The national forecaster has warned of scattered snow showers becoming isolated overnight with icy stretches in these areas
A separate Status Yellow rain warning has been issued for Carlow, Kilkenny, Wicklow, Cork, Kerry, Tipperary and Waterford from 5am to 5pm on Sunday.
Heavy downpours of rain may lead to spot flooding in these areas.
A Status Yellow wind warning has been issued for Carlow, Dublin, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, Galway and all counties in Munster from 6am until 6pm on Sunday. The same warning will be in place for Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo Louth and Meath from 11am to 6pm, and in Cork, Kerry and Waterford from 11pm on Sunday until 6am on Monday.
Meanwhile, Storm Éowyn brought devastating gusts of 183kmh, exceeded even the power of Hurricane Debbie in 1961, previously the worst storm in modern Irish history, during which 15 people died.
A driver was killed yesterday morning when a tree fell on a car at Feddyglass, Raphoe, Co Donegal. It is understood the driver was on his way to shelter indoors when the incident happened at about 5.30am.
Storm Éowyn will exceed the €70m repair bill of Storm Ophelia in 2017. The near-hurricane force winds felled almost 1,000 trees nationwide and inflicted significant damage on property.
The enforced closure of parts of the economy, allied to transport disruption, will also cost millions of euro.
The cost of repairs and insurance after Storm Éowyn could exceed €250m, dwarfing previous bills for weather events in Ireland.
An Post said is will make national deliveries today, and wherever possible, Post Offices are open for business as normal from 9am to 1pm.
Crews restoring power might see a “frosty start” today, said Alan O’Reilly of Carlow Weather, as Ireland braces for another storm which might hamper repairs in the coming days.
Members of Fingal County Council remove a fallen tree in Skerries as Storm Éowyn passed over the country. Photo: Mark Condren
“It’s a frosty start for them, so they’ll be warming themselves up, and there’s even a little bit of snow reportedly, believe it or not, in a few places,” he told Newstalk’s Anton Savage Show.
“Tipperary has actually seen snow again, which might bring some trauma back to people that were trapped for days. But it is going to be a good sunny start for many areas, but we have a band of heavy rain and sleet moving across the country, and it will become quite breezy as well.”
He said: “Today really will be the better day if people have clean-up operations in their own back garden, they can safely do them today because we have some very wet and windy weather coming tonight and tomorrow and Monday, unfortunately, with a storm that has been named by the Spanish Met Service – Herminia.”
Taoiseach Micheal Martin said every effort is being made to restore power and water supplies.
He described the destruction caused by some of the strongest winds on record as “unprecedented”.
Thanking emergency crews and responders working to restore power and clear roads, the Taoiseach said a huge amount of work is needed in the days ahead to restore electricity, water and communications to hundreds of thousands of people.
“I’m grateful for the efforts of multiple state agencies to help those most in need, and we understand how difficult it is for homes and businesses across the island,” he said.
“This is a whole of Government effort including ESB, EirGrid, Irish Water, Local Authorities, the Defence Forces, Civil Defence, the NPWS, Coillte and others.
“I’ve been briefed by the chair of the National Emergency Co-ordination Group, which will meet again today, and every effort is being made to get high voltage transmission lines up and running, homes reconnected and water supplies secured. My Government will fully assess the situation in the coming days to see what supports we can offer people and businesses caught up in the aftermath of this storm.”
Sinn Féin TD for Donegal, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, said the loss of life in his constituency during Storm Éowyn is a “heartbreaking tragedy”.
Kacper Dudek (20) was fatally injured after a tree fell on his car during high winds in Feddyglass, Raphone, Co Donegal at approximately 5.30am on Friday morning.
“I understand he was returning from work in the early hours,” Mr Mac Lochlainn told RTÉ Radio One’s Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin.
He said that approximately 90pc of homes in Donegal lost their electricity connection yesterday.
“This is unprecedented, the scale of it. As we speak, tens of thousands of homes are still without power and many homes are without the water connection too. And then there’s snow in the higher areas, so it’s a huge challenge.
“Obviously, we’re in contact with the emergency crews. They’re working their way through it as best they can.”
Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin North-West, Paul McAuliffe, also expressed his condolences to Mr Dudek’s family.
“It’s a terrible loss of life. Our feelings are with those people today,” he told RTÉ Radio One’s Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin.
“The Humanitarian Assistance Scheme, which Minister Dara Calleary made available this morning is available to people. It’s a means-tested payment for people who have damage to their homes.
“Taoiseach said this morning that he’d received an update from the chair of the National Coordination Group and that the Government will be making decisions around particularly businesses that are impacted,” he said.
Mr McAuliffe said the public should contact their local welfare office to avail of the scheme.
Meanwhile, Keith Leonard, chairman of the National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG), said the public played a key role in easing pressure on emergency services.
Winds reached their most ferocious off Galway – breaking the 80-year-old Irish wind record of 182kmh.
Michael Ward from Tuam, Co Galway, had a fortunate escape when his caravan overturned from the force of Storm Éowyn. Photo: Ray Ryan
Tánaiste Simon Harris vowed that every state resource will be deployed to aid those affected by the storm.
“I want to thank the Defence Forces for the assistance they have provided overnight and their continued work as the recovery phase now begins. It is important to continue to heed the advice and stay safe,” he said.
Health chiefs paid tribute to doctors and nurses who slept overnight at hospitals and clinics to ensure full medical facilities would be available from yesterday morning. All schools and childcare facilities closed, while all non-urgent medical appointments were also rescheduled.
Damage from Storm Éowyn was extensive. Among the facilities affected was Blanchardstown ice rink in Dublin, McGovern Park in Newport, Co Mayo, the Connacht GAA Air Dome, Co Mayo, Kilmallock GAA’s Fitzgerald Park in Limerick, Longford Town’s Bishopsgate stadium, a church in Boyle, Co Roscommon, as well as hundreds of residential and commercial properties.
We took every precaution we could and put everything in place, but it wasn’t enough
Connacht GAA’s showpiece Air Dome was ripped down by the powerful winds. The structure, which cost €3.5m, was unveiled in 2020.
Connacht GAA secretary John Prenty said officials were powerless to protect the structure, which collapsed at 4am as gusts peaked.
The Connacht GAA Air Dome after it was destroyed by Storm Éowyn. Photo: Mid West Radio X
“It has been a bad night and a bad morning,” he said. “But, thankfully, nobody got hurt and that is the most important thing.
“We took every precaution we could and put everything in place, but it wasn’t enough. It tore and it’s on the ground.
“It is probably the most iconic GAA building in the country because it was unique. Nobody else had it. It is gone but it will be back.”
In Cork, a 19-year-old man had a lucky escape when winds overturned the caravan he was sleeping in at Spring Lane on the county’s north side.
In Bellewstown, Co Meath, structural engineers are to examine a two-storey house after a tree was uprooted by the storm and fell on to the roof.
Fallen tree blocks entrance to a resident’s home near the Carrick Road in Dundalk. Photo: David Conachy
A family had to be rescued from a house on Carrick Road in Dundalk after a large tree fell at the height of the storm and left them trapped.
Multiple roads were left impassable, with council repair crews only able to begin clearance works when Status Red warnings were lifted and winds abated.
Irish airports and airlines are likely to take several days to restore normal schedules after massive disruption caused by Storm Éowyn.
Dublin Airport alone was forced to cancel 90 flights, while flight operations were also suspended at Cork, Shannon, Kerry and Ireland West.
One in five of all flights from Irish and UK airports were either cancelled or delayed. All Irish ferry sailings were also rescheduled until the storm had passed.
Ryanair, Aer Lingus and other airlines were working to restore schedules, but ongoing disruption is expected for flights to Scotland and northern England as Storm Éowyn sweeps towards the North Sea.
Despite a major storm surge, Irish coastal towns and villages avoided major flooding. However, the Coast Guard, RNLI and Water Safety Ireland urged people to take extreme care at exposed coastal areas, as well as lakes, rivers and streams over the coming days.
