Six days on, prepare for another storm battering

LAST Monday saw some areas of the country battered by vicious winds, and now it looks like we’re facing round two as Storm Brian reaches our shores.

Met Éireann is warning that winds of up to 130kph are expected to hit the west, south and east coasts today, with the eye of the storm expected to pass over the country throughout this morning.

Storm Brian is set to arrive as around 37,000 homes across the country still have no power in the aftermath of Storm Ophelia, while 2,300 customers have no access to water.

And if the storm reaches the expected strength, it will not only stall the ongoing ESB restoration effort, but could possibly make matters even worse.

Seán Hogan, chair of the National Emergency Coordination Group, said: ‘For safety reasons, it may be necessary to stand down crews while this storm is passing, and it may well then impact therefore on service restoration plans.

‘It may well of course add further faults to the network.’

Many areas are also preparing for the possibility of flooding, especially in Co. Cork, with county council depots yesterday handing out sandbags in Bantry, Youghal, Clonakilty and Midleton.

The Coast Guard is advising people to stay away from beaches, cliffs, piers and promenades until the storm passes.

A Status Orange Wind Warning is in place until 10pm tonight for the coasts of Mayo, Galway, Clare, Kerry, Cork, Waterford and Wexford. Evelyn Cusack, of Met Éireann, warned members of the public in the affected areas to pay attention to warnings.

‘Particularly for western and southern coastal districts, [today] those winds will be gusting 120, perhaps 130km per hour,’ she said. ‘So I’d ask people to keep to the warning issued by the Coast Guard.’

French crews are arriving at Rosslare Europort today to help ESB networks restore power.

Mother-of-two Anna Codd, from Rathnure village near Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, is one of thousands who have been without electricity since Monday. She lives with husband John and daughters Laura, 21, and Katie, 14.

Anna, who works in furniture store Conran Interiors, is hoping to have her power reconnected tomorrow, almost a week after Storm Ophelia first hit.

‘The electricity and phone went on Monday at 1pm and it’s not back yet in either my house or the business,’ she said, adding that one of her daughters is currently working on a thesis and has to travel to her aunt’s house in Enniscorthy to use her electricity.

‘I have a gas hob so at least I can still cook, but I had to throw out all my food last night, everything was gone bad in the fridge and freezer,’ she said. ‘There’s no heating, too. I’m lucky in that I have a wood stove in the sitting room so at least I can heat that room, but the rest of the house is freezing, and it’s got very cold lately.

‘You get fed up of walking around in the dark, it’s just miserable.’