Thousands still without power across Co Meath after Storm Eowyn
Thousands of homes across Co Meath are still without power and water after Storm Éowyn wreaked havoc across the island.
The misery of being without power was further compunded after tempreatures plummeted last night and Met Éireann has predicted a cold morning with icy stretches and also with the risk of some sleet and snow showers, adding that there will be isolated thunderstorms.
ESB Networks arr dealing with dozens of faults and outages including Trim which has over 700 premises without power and several hundred people without electricity in the Navan area with no estimated restoration time available.
The cold conditions may hamper efforts to restore power the the thousands still left without light, heat, and water.
Trees have been uprooted - roofs peeled off - and 20-year-old man died when a tree fell on his car near Raphoe in Co Donegal.
The storm, which saw gusts of 183km/h recorded at Mace Hard, Co Galway, left close to one million homes, farms and businesses without power across the island at one stage.
Connacht GAA’s €3.1 million Air Dome centre of excellence in Co Mayo was completely destroyed, while a seasonal ice rink in Blanchardstown, west Dublin, was also severely damaged along with the roof of St Joseph’s Church in Boyle, Co Roscommon.
GALLERY: Your photos as Storm Eowyn leaves its mark on Co Meath
ESB Networks said the storm brought “unprecedented, widespread and extensive damage” to electricity infrastructure and that restoration could take up to a week in the worst-affected areas.
About 540,000 homes were still without power as of Friday night. An additional 280,000 in Northern Ireland were also without electricity.
Restoration will continue “at first light” on Saturday morning, and “we expect to make good progress restoring supplies over the weekend and into next week”, a spokesman for ESB Networks said.
About 138,000 people across the country had no water on Friday night, with supplies for a further 750,000 people are at risk due to power outages at treatment plants and pumping stations.
The impacts were being felt nationwide, with areas across Kerry, Clare, Tipperary, Waterford, Galway, Donegal, Longford and Laois worst affected.
The cost of the damage wreaked by Storm Éowyn is likely to exceed €100 million for the insurance industry, judging from past storms, experts have indicated.
They have also predicted the growing prevalence of such events will likely lead to higher premiums for consumers.
Some parts of the country also faced communication difficulties, with little mobile coverage in addition to power outages.
For latest uopdates please check... https://powercheck.esbnetworks.ie/
Meanwhile, Met Eireann has released new Status Yellow weather warnings.
Two Status Yellow warnings for wind have been issued for eight counties, along with Munster, with Met Éireann warning of further damage to already weakened structures and trees.
The first, which begins at 6am, covers Carlow, Dublin, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, Galway, Mayo, Sligo and Munster.
Dangerous travelling conditions are possible during the alert, which will end at 6pm.
The second warning will be in operation for Cork, Kerry and Waterford from 11pm tomorrow night until 6am on Monday.
A Status Yellow warning for rain will be in effect from 5am until 5pm tomorrow for Carlow, Kilkenny, Wicklow, Cork, Kerry, Tipperary and Waterford.
The forecaster said that heavy downpours of rain may lead to spot flooding.