MORE than 300,000 people in Ireland will wake to find they are still without power this morning due to “serious damage” caused to the electricity network when Storm Ophelia battered the country yesterday.
Three people died and a number of buildings were ripped apart, including Cork City's Football Club stadium, by gale force winds brought by the ex-Hurricane Ophelia.
A statement by Ireland’s Electricity Supply Board (ESB) confirmed that roughly 330,000 customers who were without power last night would remain so this morning and for a “number of days” due to the damage left by the worst storm to hit Ireland in 50 years.
“The majority of customers who have lost supply at present will be without power tonight and over a number of days,” they said in a statement.
“Based on previous experience of Storm Darwin in 2014, where about 280,000 customers were left without supply, we can predict that it will take a number of days to restore power to all customers,” they added.
“Five to ten per cent of this number will be without power for up to ten days.”
They explained that most of the damage to Ireland’s electricity network was caused by “fallen trees on overhead lines”.
ESB confirm that they have “crews deployed across the country” dealing with emergencies and restoring power to customers, but advised people to “prepare” to be without power for a number of days.
They add: “We are currently prioritising emergency calls on our 1850 372 999 number, but customers without power can check for updates on when their fault is expected to be repaired at www.esbpowercheck.ie or on the PowerCheck App for iPhone and Android devices.”
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