Tributes paid as county council worker killed by Storm Eunice is named
Water is blown back on to the land near Doolin, Co Clare, as Storm Eunice continues to rage across Ireland. Picture: Eamon Ward/PA Wire
The county council worker who was killed by a falling tree in Wexford during Storm Eunice has been named.
He was 59-year-old Billy Kinsella from the Ballythomas area, and lived just three miles away from where he died.
Tributes were paid to him last night as the clean up and repair operation following Storm Eunice continued.
More than 12,000 customers remained without power overnight with the majority of outages being in west Cork, Kerry, and Enniscorthy in Wexford.
A yellow snow and ice warning was in place overnight until 10am this morning.
Local Fianna Fáil councillor Donal Kenny said he had known the dead man for more than three decades. He described him as a good hard worker who was a quiet person.
Mayor of County Wexford, Cllr Barbara-Anne Murphy, said the county has been stunned by the death.
“We take for granted the work people do, whether they be paramedics, gardaí or council staff,” she said.
Thousands are without power across the country as Storm Eunice hits Ireland, with status yellow weather warnings in place for the entire country.
By 5pm this evening the ESB Networks confirmed there are 44,000 homes and businesses without power, with crews being mobilised to fix outages.
While poor weather conditions continue to hamper repair works in some areas with a yellow wind and rain warning in place nationwide until 6pm, "ESB Networks will continue to work into the night doing everything it can to restore power to as many remaining customers as possible," it said.
Due to the severity of the damage to the electricity network in the Southwest region, it also confirmed some customers in South Kerry and West Cork will be without power overnight.
- 44,000 still remaining without power due to Storm Eunice
- Earlier status red and orange warnings have cleared
- Status yellow wind warning and status yellow snow and ice warning remains in place
- Motorists being urged to drive with caution
- Here are the useful numbers and websites you might need during Storm Eunice
Gardaí have urged the public to heed warnings for their local areas and those living in the worst-affected areas have been advised to stay indoors for the duration of the storm and to remain cautious even when the worst conditions have abated.
The ESB said that the main source of power outages is attributable to damage caused by fallen trees on overhead lines as a result of the high winds. In Cork City alone, the council has said that upwards of 70 trees have fallen.
It said that the damage has been most extensive in West Cork and Kerry, with most impacted areas including Kilgarvan, Caherciveen, Milltown, Bandon, Bantry, Ballydehob, and Dunmanway. Further power outages have occurred in Clonmel and Wexford town.
The National Emergency Coordination Group (NECG) met on Friday morning to review the impact of the storm.
The highest gusts recorded were at Roches Point with speeds of 137km/h reached. It said that snow has been reported in the Northwest, especially in Donegal and Roscommon.
Reports of impacts from around the country show many trees have come down blocking some national and regional roads, some structural damage to buildings and some coastal flooding, with the South and South West worst affected.
In Kerry, around 4,500 homes and businesses are without power in Oughtragh, ner Killorglin, while almost 1,700 are without in Milltown. Some 7,800 are without power in Knockearagh.
The ESB's PowerCheck states that around 2,000 are without power in Gurranebane near Cahersiveen. In Cork, around 1,200 homes and businesses are without power in Glengarriff while homes in Bantry have also been affected.
Some 2,500 are without power in Ballydehob with large numbers of outages also being reported in Ballylicky and Dunmanway.
Brian Tapley, from ESB, said on Friday: “We will know the extent of the damage to our network probably by midday, because the storm is passing so quickly.”
He told RTÉ radio that ESB workers would aim to “restore everyone as quickly as possible and safely as possible”.
An ESB spokesperson said that with the storm still crossing the south of the country "more damage and interruptions to supply can be expected".
"ESB Networks reminds the public to never, ever touch or approach fallen overhead lines as they are live and extremely dangerous.
ESB crews are being mobilised on the ground in areas. "Poor weather, including snow in some parts of the country, may hamper crews in repairing the network," the spokesperson added.
Earlier status red and orange warnings finished by 11am as fresh status yellow warnings were issued on Friday morning for the entire country.
A snow and ice warning is in place until 10am on Saturday with falls of sleet and snow due leading to "accumulations in some areas and icy stretches leading to hazardous driving conditions".
A wind and rain warning is now in place until 6pm on Friday, with Met Éireann saying heavy rain will be coupled with winds reaching mean speeds of 50 to 65km/h and gusts of up to 110km/h.
"Some disruption is likely along with a possibility of coastal and spot flooding," Met Éireann has said.
In Cork, the county council said that crews have been on standby throughout the night and the Severe Weather Assessment Team and Crisis Management Team will convene later this morning.
High tide passed in Bantry without flooding, while in Fermoy, flood barriers have been erected as a precaution.
The M8 is closed between junction 14 and 15 due to high winds, the council said and it is due to reopen at 9am, however, this could change.
Fallen trees have been reported across the country and motorists are being advised to drive with care.
Cork City Council director of services and operations, David Joyce, said that while the city had escaped any major damage, motorists were being advised to remain “very cautious” until this evening.
The local authority for the city had no emergencies overnight, but there were reports of loose branches and items on various roads, he said.
“Overnight thankfully, there was not a tremendous amount of damage done, there was no emergency callouts, for example. There is still obviously a significant amount of high winds, and we are still in Orange Alert until 11am, so we would still advise people not to travel where it is unnecessary.”
The Yellow Alert has been extended to 6pm, he said.
“It is going to remain wet and windy all day long. I have been driving around the city, and while there is not a massive amount of damage done, there is an awful lot of smaller branches and leaves on the roads, especially the local tertiary roads. We would therefore still advise people to drive with extreme care and caution.”
Storm Eunice has led to schools and colleges being closed in nine counties — in Cork, Kerry, Waterford, and Clare where there had been red warnings as well as Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo, and Roscommon, where status orange snow warnings had been in place.
Fastnet Lighthouse has recorded gusts of 154km, highlighting the damaging winds.
Avg Wind:63kts, Gust:83kts, Wind Dir:354 °(N), Gust Dir:354 °(N) at 18/02/2022 06:20:00
— Fastnet Lighthouse (@FastnetLHouse) February 18, 2022
The HSE's chief operations officer, Anne O'Connor advised the public that appointments would go ahead on Friday, although there might be some delays. Speaking on RTÉ radio's , she said "we're not going to cancel very much".
However, she did not want the public or staff travelling before 8am so there would be delays and the public should not worry if they were going to be late as they would be accommodated. There would be some cancellations in Clare, but overall "we're trying to continue services.
At University Hospital Kerry some catering and maintenance staff had remained overnight to ensure continuity of service for patients, she said.
If any appointments were going to be cancelled, the HSE would contact the people and everyone else should assume their appointment was going ahead.
Chair of the NECG, Keith Leonard, earlier urged people to make only essential journeys and if possible to delay travel plans until Storm Eunice has passed.
The group was working closely with local authorities, he said and warnings would remain in place until lunchtime.
There were a significant number of fallen trees in Cork, Kerry, and Clare, he said.
Mr Leonard told RTÉ radio that there had been significant snowfall in some counties in the north west which was leading to travel disruption. Only essential journeys should be made, he urged and anyone who had to travel should slow down and be aware there could be disruptions.
Check out the Irish Examiner's WEATHER CENTRE for regularly updated short and long range forecasts wherever you are.
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