Ireland

Major clean-up as Storm Lorenzo crosses Ireland

There were fears the River Eske in Donegal Town would burst its banks. Picture from RTE
There were fears the River Eske in Donegal Town would burst its banks. Picture from RTE There were fears the River Eske in Donegal Town would burst its banks. Picture from RTE

DONEGAL town and the south-west of the county were among areas worst affected as Storm Lorenzo swept across Ireland on Thursday night.

The Republic’s emergency services had braced for serious flooding as the major storm tracked across the island.

While Counties Donegal, Mayo, Galway and Longford were badly affected, damage caused by Storm Lorenzo was much less than had been anticipated.

Northern Ireland escaped serious damage. However, there was extensive flooding in south and south west Donegal.

Around 40 homes were flooded in Donegal town while Donegal County Council reported “substantial flooding” in Bundoran, Frosses and Laghey, with housing support provided where needed.

Sheena Culloo of Clarendon Row in Donegal town said she was awakened at around 6am yesterday by flood waters rushing through her home.

“Everything’s a mess,” she said.

In Kilcar, high seas caused damage to the village’s GAA grounds. Tides at the height of Storm Lorenzo breached flood defences, sending water cascading across the club’s main and practice pitches as well as flooding the changing rooms.

The ESB reported thousands of homes left without electricity as winds reached more than 100km/h. However, wind speeds were well short of the 130km/h feared in advance.

Spokesman Derek Hynes told RTE that, at Storm Lorenzo’s height, 12,000 homes were left without electricity.

“Luckily over the last couple of days, our preparations have allowed us to have our staff ready to mobile in all of the locations that we expected to have this type of weather effect,” he said.

Power was restored to most homes by tea-time yesterday, when all weather warnings were lifted.