ESB working to restore power to 9,000 homes

Mon, 21 Feb, 2022 - 20:54

Steven Heaney

ESB Networks has said it could be tomorrow evening before electricity is restored to the almost 9,000 homes and businesses left without power as a result of Storm Franklin.

As of Monday morning, 29,000 premises had lost power, with the majority of the outages reported in Leitrim, Sligo, and Donegal.

In a statement tonight, the ESB said power had been restored to just over 20,000 of the premises, and that its crews are continuing to address the remaining outages.

Clean-up crews around the country worked throughout this afternoon and evening to repair the damage caused by Storm Franklin.

While there were no significant incidents reported, there were fallen trees, debris, and damaged power lines nationwide, particularly in the west and northwest.

A status yellow weather warning that had been put in place by Met Éireann on Sunday night was lifted at 9am today, though it did remain in place for the counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Derry, Wexford, and Wicklow until later into the afternoon.

A man looks at sea spray in the Cleedagh River in Spanish Point, Co Clare after Storm Franklin hit.

Storm Franklin, which made landfall here in the immediate wake of Storms Eunice and Dudley, saw extremely high winds recorded at weather stations around the country. Mace Head saw a gust of almost 140km/h recorded in the early hours of Sunday morning.

While Ireland did not see any major incidents as a result of the storm, Franklin battered the northwest of Europe throughout Sunday and for most of Monday.

England’s environmental agency issued more than 300 flood warnings and alerts for various locations around the country. Almost 40,000 homes and businesses lost power, some of which had only regained it in the wake of Storm Eunice.

Huge waves hitting the sea wall at Porthcawl, Wales, after Storm Franklin moved in. Picture: read: Ben Birchall/PA Wire

In France, a man and a woman, both aged in their 70s, were killed on Sunday when their car was swept into the English Channel in a town in Normandy.

Germany, where the storm is known as Storm Antonia, also experienced widespread travel disruption and property damage, though at a much lower level than that seen during Storm Eunice late last week.

Though weather warnings for most regions were lifted early on Monday morning, high winds and flooding continue to disrupt the transport networks of Germany's northernmost states.

In The Netherlands, four people lost their lives as the storm downed trees and blew roofs off buildings right across the low-lying country. Some 350 flights were cancelled, and Dutch authorities shut 80 major bridges.

In Denmark, uprooted trees and disrupted rail services in and around Copenhagen, while heavy snowfall halted buses and trains in the Swedish capital of Stockholm.

Overall, at least 14 people have been killed across Europe during a week of wild weather which saw Storms Dudley, Eunice, and Franklin impact the continent in quick succession.

Among those who died was 59-year-old Wexford County Council worker Billy Kinsella, who was killed as he worked to clear debris from near his home in Ballythomas on Friday morning.

Groups concerned at delay in establishing citizens' assembly on drugs