ISHA REAL STRUGGLE TO RESTORE POWER
UK contractors flown in to help 12,000 homes reconnect to grid
AROUND 12,000 homes, farms, and businesses were still without electricity yesterday after two storms battered the country over a three-day period.
Isha, which made landfall on Sunday, caused widespread power outages across Ireland but efforts to restore it were hampered by the arrival of Storm Jocelyn on Tuesday.
ESB crews were working tirelessly yesterday to try and fix as many faults as possible.
The electricity supplier also revealed contractors from the UK were being flown in last night to help.
At 1pm yesterday, there were 19,000 who had no power. By 5pm this had dropped to 12,000 customers.
The ESB stressed that they were using all their available resources and were being deployed where needed, explaining crews in Cork were in Donegal and assisting local colleagues there. In a statement, the ESB said: “Following on from the effects of storms Isha and Jocelyn, 12,000 homes, farms and businesses remain without power this evening.
“With a peak of over 235,000 customers without electricity on Monday morning, ESB Networks teams have also been restoring power to additional customers who lost power [on Tuesday] as a result of Storm Jocelyn.
“The areas most affected are predominantly in counties Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Mayo, Cavan and Longford.
“With significant progress made over the last 48 hours in the restoration effort, ESB Networks crews are working through faults on the low voltage network that have primarily affected single homes and small clusters of customers.”
They added: “All available ESB Networks resources are deployed, including crews and partner contractors who have travelled from less impacted areas of the country to assist in the restoration effort.
“Furthermore, over 50 skilled personnel from our UK counterparts in National Grid Electricity Distribution and UK Power Networks will arrive in Ireland [on Wednesday evening] and be deployed in the worst impacted areas from [Thursday] morning.
“It is important that any impacted customers who use electrically powered medical devices contact their healthcare professional to make alternative arrangements if necessary.
“We again apologise for the disruption to family and commercial life this causes, and thank customers across the country, especially those who will be without power again overnight, for their patience as our crews work to safely restore power.”
The ESB also urged members of the public to never approach or touch fallen wires if they come across them.
Meanwhile, Uisce Eireann said the water supplies of around 6,600 customers were still impacted yesterday as a result of the storm.
They said those in Cavan, Longford, Waterford and Sligo were the worst affected.