Ireland

Thousands left in the dark after Storm Barney

Crews from ESB Networks and local authorities worked during the night to repair damage caused by Storm Barney. Picture by Dublin Fire Brigade on Twitter
Crews from ESB Networks and local authorities worked during the night to repair damage caused by Storm Barney. Picture by Dublin Fire Brigade on Twitter Crews from ESB Networks and local authorities worked during the night to repair damage caused by Storm Barney. Picture by Dublin Fire Brigade on Twitter

THOUSANDS of households are without electricity today after Storm Barney's wind gusts of up to 130km brought down power lines across Ireland.

ESB Networks crews worked until late Tuesday night to restore power to 30,000 customers and resumed at first light to try to ensure another 15,000 had power back as soon as possible.

A spokesman said the gale force winds had caused “considerable damage” to the electricity infrastructure mainly due to fallen trees and timber, with most damage in the west, south and south east.

He added that the company expected to have power restored the majority of customers by tea-time Wednesday, but warned that high winds forecast for the remainder of the day “could hamper the restoration process and cause additional faults”.

There was plenty of praise on social media for repair teams who braved the winds to fix damaged lines in the night, with members of the public using Twitter to express their gratitude for having their power supply back.

Dublin Fire Brigade also tweeted their thanks to ESB Networks and the city’s local authority staff “for their efforts” during Storm Barney.

Separately, it emerged that staff at the city’s Beaumont Hospital had to rely on their mobile phone torches for work on Tuesday evening after wards were left in almost complete darkness.

A Beaumont spokesperson said the facility experienced a power failure “for a short period of time” but that “all critical areas had battery back up. Full power was restored within 15 minutes”.

They insisted that “patient safety was not compromised” and that the incident was being investigated with the relevant energy providers.

AA Roadwatch reported that most part of the country was still experiencing wet and windy conditions, with a Status Yellow Wind Warning in place across the Republic until 10pm tonight and gusts of up to 100km likely.

“High sided vehicles are particularly vulnerable on open or exposed roads. Be especially mindful of pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. Wind blown debris is likely to be a problem on secondary routes in particular,” they said.

Fallen trees affected roads in Counties Wicklow, Kildare and Meath, with flooding reported in Counties Limerick, Galway and Roscommon.

Irish Rail said that all of its Galway services were 30 minutes behind schedule because of fallen branches on the line.

Meanwhile, Met Éireann warned that rains would clear during the afternoon but that south and south-west winds would increase, with damaging gusts expected.