Man falls to death while fixing roof damaged by storm
A MAN has died after falling from a roof while attempting to make repairs to damage caused by Hurricane Ophelia.
The man, aged in his mid50s, suffered fatal head injuries when he fell while working on a shed roof at Kilgarriff outside Clonakilty, west Cork, yesterday.
It is understood he was using a teleporter machine when the accident happened.
Emergency services were immediately notified but, despite desperate efforts to stabilise the man’s condition, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Three people died during Hurricane Ophelia last Monday, all in tree-related accidents.
Clonakilty Fianna Fáil councillor Christopher O’Sullivan said: “It’s a shame Hurricane Ophelia has taken another life. People have been working to get things back on track with repairs and this shows there is still danger out there. It’s a terrible tragedy and the whole community is saddened.”
Meanwhile, a man in his 70s died when he fell from a ladder while making repairs to a roof in Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow, on Saturday.
Last night, 6,000 customers in the worst-affected areas in counties Cork and Wexford were still without power after Storm Brian unleashed galeforce winds and torrential rain on Saturday following hard on the heels of Ophelia.
More than 3,700 engineers – including a large contingent of overseas workers – are working around the clock to restore power.
Around 2,500 workers from ESB Networks were joined by 1,000 private contractors and 250 engineers drafted in from the North, France, Wales, England and Scotland at the weekend.
ESB Networks apologised to those customers who remained without power and asked the public to “reach out” to their neighbours who are still waiting for their electricity to be restored.
Environment Minister Denis Naughten said: “The (repair) work is continuing at full pace until power is restored to every single home, business and farm and please be assured that the Government and the National Emergency Co-ordination Centre are monitoring the situation closely until this happens.”
Clean-up operations continued yesterday in areas affected by flooding. A combination of high tides and strong winds caused the Shannon to burst its banks in Limerick, flooding some homes and businesses. The Blackwater river also burst its banks in north Cork.