Hundreds without power as Storm Rachel hits

Hundreds of families remained without power overnight after the fierce Atlantic storm, which crashed into the country blacking out homes, grounding flights, halting ferry crossings and delaying countless rail and road commuters.

Emergency crews battled throughout yesterday to restore electricity to up to 20,000 households as violent gusts and torrential rain battered the western seaboard before spreading across the country.

At one stage, four national weather warnings were in place including the most severe, a Status Red alert.

Dozens of schools even shut for the day on the advice of education chiefs fearing for the safety of children, parents and staff.

However, while the storm did cause widespread disruption, the National Coordination Group admitted its impact was “not been as severe as could have been”.

Pat Clarke, meteorologist with Met Éireann, told Limerick’s Live 95FM: “We err on the side of caution. Sometimes we overdo it. That’s just the way it is. You have to err on the side of caution with these matters.”

His comments came after the station received numerous calls from people questioning why Limerick was put on “status red”.

We will rebuild. #StormRachel pic.twitter.com/3FdRQJU3fA

— Denise O'Donoghue (@deniseodonoghue) January 15, 2015

Limerick City and County Council admitted yesterday morning “no significant incidents have been reported as a result of Storm Rachel”.

While ESB crews managed to restore power to some 17,000 homes and businesses by 5pm yesterday, it said more than 3,000 homes and businesses remained without power and up to 500 of those could expect to be left without electricity until this morning.

Worst-affected areas included Derrybeg and Falcarragh in Co Donegal, as well as Ballina and Belmullet in Co Mayo.

At one point, more than 10,000 homes were without landline phone connections and broadband during the day because of outages.

Eircom said it had more than 1,000 staff working to restore connections, but their efforts were hampered in exposed areas.

Storm Rachel also hit travel plans, with 20 aircraft diverted from Dublin Airport and 38 flights cancelled, flights to Donegal grounded and ferry sailings between Dublin and Holyhead, Larne and Cairnryan, and smaller services to offshore islands cancelled.

Motorists were impacted, as fallen trees, electricity poles, high winds and floods closed local routes or slowed traffic. Speed restrictions on the rail network also delayed trains.

Meanwhile, Met Éireann said today will be a cold, bright day with showers becoming isolated by the afternoon. Temperatures will reach highs of between 3 to 7 degrees, in moderate westerly winds.