POWER SUPPLIES were the chief casualty across Sligo as the first major storm of 2018 struck after teatime last night,
Tuesday.
The county was also upgraded late last night to warn of damaging wind gusts inland into Wednesday afternoon.
Meanwhile last night’s fury saw five thousand homes in south and west of the county worst hit by power cuts.
Sligo accounted for just under ten percent of the power lines damage caused nationwide at the height of last night’s storm.
Officially, Met upgraded Sligo at 10pm last night (Tuesday) to Status Orange, its highest category wind warning.
That warning stays in place until 2pm on Wednesday afternoon.
Last night, other counties saw major damage caused by spot flooding and high tides.
There were lightning strikes reported in the Cork and Kerry areas.
Violent Gusts
In
Sligo, fallen trees caused by violent wind gusts took power lines down
in several towns and villages while ESB transmitter faults were also
logged.
Areas affected in Sligo included Collooney, Ballymote, Gurteen, Bunninadden, Tubbercurry and Enniscrone.
Over 5,100 ESB customers across Sligo were without power shortly before 9pm last night.
Nationwide, ESB Networks confirmed 55,000 homes were without power at that time.
Storm Impact
Many power line repairs were completed by ESB crews before midnight in the Sligo area.
However,
some major-scale repairs, including Enniscrone and Tubbercurry area
faults, might not be completed until late this morning, Wednesday.
Local
councillor Gerry Lundy spoke on independent national radio last night
about the widespread impact of ‘Eleanor,’ particularly around Gurteen
and Tubbercurry.
Local Hits
ESB Networks identified online some of the major Sligo outages last night as follows:-
Tubbercurry area (a) 1,427 homes
Tubbercurry area (b) 1,169 homes
Enniscrone area 1,614 homes;
Gurteen area 782 homes;
Ballymote area 83 homes
Bunninadden area 25 homes
Collooney area 12 homes.
Across the constituency there were also power cuts around Manorhamilton, Boyle, Arigna and Carrigallen.
An estimated one thousand households alone were left without power in areas centered on Arigna.
Weather Perils
Although
gale winds abated early this morning in Sligo as ‘Eleanor’ moved to
Scotland and the North Sea, Met Éireann still warned of local weather
perils.
In particular, they appealed to people to stay away from western coastal areas today, Wednesday.
Ireland has been hit by two major storms in the past 72 hours — Dylan and Eleanor.
Another band of wet and windy weather is expected in the next 24 hours, Met Eireann warns.
Met is predicting cold and frosty conditions to hit Ireland this weekend.
Pinpointed Risk
Yesterday, four separate status weather warnings were officially in place from Met Éireann.
Met’s
ongoing assessment yesterday before ‘Eleanor’ arrived inland off the
Atlantic seaboard had pinpointed the Sligo risk from violent gusts.
Officially, Met upgraded Sligo at 10pm last night (Tuesday) to Status Orange, its highest category wind warning.
The Strandhill Live Cam this morning at 6am.
Damaging Gusts
Sligo will stay in the Status Orange category until 2pm Wednesday afternoon.
Warned Met Eireann early today: “Westerly gale to storm winds together with high tides and exceptionally high seas will result in coastal damage and flooding.
“Damaging gusts likely inland also,” warned Met’s forecast for Atlantic seaboard areas including Sligo up to 2pm today.
ESB Networks identified power cuts up to 9pm last night in counties which included Mayo, Leitrim, Sligo, Cavan and Monaghan.
Sligo County Council advised late last night;
Strong winds have resulted in fallen trees throughout the county with a number of roads blocked. Water levels are also rising very quickly with low lying and coastal roads in particular danger. Gibraltar Road Sligo flooded, a Bus Eireann Bus evacuated and road closed. Mardyke, Cartron now passable
Sligo County Council Roads and Fire Services crews have been deployed around the county removing fallen trees and telegraph poles, closing roads and arranging diversions.
Details:
Gurteen to Ballaghadereen blocked 2 miles from Gurteen
Fallen trees on Culfadda to Keash Rd, road blocked
Fallen tree at Carn School, Gurteen
Fallen tree Lisrush-Culfadda Rd, road blocked
Fallen trees and cables on L4303 Buninnadden to Quarryfield crossroads
Monasteraden to Cloonloo road blocked
Road CR 632A blocked at Annaghowan Riverstown
Templehouse to five-cross roads blocked