AROUND 142,000 PREMISES remain without power this evening following damage caused by Storm Éowyn, as further support arrived from Austria and Finland today.

Additional crews from electricity network operators in Netherlands and France are due over the coming days.

Engineers from England also arrived in Ireland over the weekend and Taoiseach Micheál Martin has thanked his British counterpart Keir Starmer for this assistance.

36 skilled personnel from Finland, who following induction today, will be deployed to the worst hit areas of the Midlands post-Storm Eowyn. Chris Bellew / Fennell Photography Chris Bellew / Fennell Photography / Fennell Photography

Meanwhile, about 11,500 premises supplied by Uisce Éireann remained without water as of lunchtime today, with an estimated 31,000 people affected.

ESB crews from the south and east of the country are  being redeployed to the worst impacted areas once restoration in their areas has been completed, while skilled retirees from ESB are also being redrafted to assist.  

Gardaí have also warned people to be vigilant of text scammers pretending to be electricity providers. 

‘I’ve never been without power this long’

Chloe, who lives in Co Clare with her husband and dog Rua, said that there was “no end in sight” of the power outage affecting her hometown of Ennistymon that began on Thursday night.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been without power for this long,” Chloe said.

“ESB are saying power will come back on 4 February so I’m hoping that’s the worst case scenario.”

Chloe, who is originally from the US state of Michigan, said that she had “never experienced winds” like those brought by Storm Éowyn.

“I suppose that’s the price we have to pay by living in such a beautiful, remote area – unfortunately, we get the brunt of everything as well,” Chloe said.

“There’s power lines down nearby and the forestry areas have suffered a lot of damage.”

Fallen power lines near Ennistymon.

Chloe and her pet Rua have temporarily relocated to a friend’s house, but she added that the dog is “a bit unsettled”.

“She was my buddy throughout the storm, so I was glad to have her,” Chloe said.

She added that the local community has rallied to support one another.

“The Doolin Hotel stayed open the whole time and kept their rooms open for people to access charging points and showers, and there’s a few community-led hubs which have opened today to help people which is great,” Chloe said.

Chloe's pet dog Rua, pictured during the stormy weather.

‘Essentially a hurricane’

Speaking on RTÉ’s Prime Time this evening, Communications Minister Patrick O’Donovan said he understands people’s frustrations in still having no power following the storm.

“This was essentially a hurricane for all intents and purposes, that hit the country and broke records that have stood since 1945,” O’Donovan said.

He said one third of all ESB customers were “knocked out” as a result of the impact of the storm, adding that “everything humanly possible” is being done to try and get people connected to power again.

“Unfortunately, in many cases, there is no network left. In many cases, the power lines are just literally obliterated, and they’re starting from scratch, but they are connecting people in their hundreds and in their thousands per day.

We have never seen anything like this. 

Asked about the level of preparedness for the storm, the Limerick TD said the Government is working with a number of EU countries to fix the power grid.

He said that after the Status Red wind warnings had lifted and the scale of the damage could be assessed, the State asked EU countries to send crews to restore power.

“The first of them have arrived today. There’ll be more of them arriving tomorrow.

“Generators have already arrived and will be arriving in the next number of hours from Denmark, Poland and Romania, and some of them are arriving in up the road into Shannon Airport.

“To say that the government didn’t respond here, and I know that some politicians are trying to make hay of this, is just factually not correct.”

‘More severe storms’

Today, Taoiseach Micheál Martin visited Castlerea, Ballaghaderreen and Kiltoom to meet the communities impacted by the storm. He also warned of further storms of similar magnitude.

Speaking to reporters in Co Roscommon, he paid tribute to the “community spirit” seen in response to the storm. 

Martin said previous investments by Government in community groups, organisations and facilities “has reaped some dividends in terms of having those facilities in place” to help people without power and water.

“I think it speaks to the ongoing need to continue to invest in community organisations on the ground, community facilities on the ground,” he said.

“In a world where we are going to experience more severe storms, I think, with greater regularity than we would have had in the past, that social infrastructure, that social and community capacity, is extremely important, working with statutory agencies like the local authorities, civil defence and others, gardaí, HSE, to respond to such challenges.”

Elsewhere, Minister for Rural and Community Development Dara Calleary visited west Galway and met with communities in the Connemara and Árainn areas to see progress on repairs before travelling to Inis Mór to see the storm recovery work. He also travelled to An Cheathrú Rua where he met with local community workers.

“I will be briefing the Taoiseach and my colleagues at Cabinet tomorrow on my visit today and you can be assured this Government will not be found wanting when it comes to supporting communities,” Calleary said in An Cheathrú Rua.

Safety warning on generators and power lines

The ESB warned today said it has been made aware of several instances of  ”potentially very dangerous incidents where members of the public have unknowingly approached fallen electricity infrastructure”.

The ESB has also been made aware of “dangerous instances” caused by the increased use of generators in response to the widespread outages.

Generators require proper ventilation and a standby generator should never be connected directly into the electrical circuits or directly to your metering point. Generators should also be installed by a registered electrical contractor.

The ESB warned that there are still many faults on the electricity network and that fallen debris after a storm can prevent people from seeing hidden risks, such as wires entangled into trees and branches.

If you come across fallen wires or damaged electricity network, never, ever touch or approach these as they are live and extremely dangerous.

“Stay safe, stay clear of any fallen lines and report any damage to 1800 372 999 .”

Meanwhile, ESB said its customer contact centre has doubled its resources to accommodate the unprecedented high volumes of calls since 23 January.

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Power outages

At the peak of the power outages last Friday morning, around 768,000 customers were without power.

By Friday 31 January, many customers will have had supply restored.

However, as many as 100,000 customers will have to wait until next week to have their power restored.

ESB repair works continue across the country today. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

ESB said these customers will “progressively have power restored over the course of next week”.

Additional crews are in Cavan, Monaghan, Westmeath, Longford, Roscommon, Clare, Galway, Donegal and Sligo today, the ESB has indicated.

ESB Networks Regional Manager Siobhán Wynne told RTÉ Radio 1′s Morning Ireland this morning that the restoration effort is “really difficult” given the numbers without power.

“Our population is quite dispersed in Ireland. We’ve roughly six times the amount of network per customer than most other European utilities, over 160,000 kilometres of overhead network, so that makes us a little bit more vulnerable,” she said.

Fellow ESB Networks Regional Manager Brian Tapley yesterday noted that outside of urban centres, there is a predominantly overhead electrical network and that Ireland has “around four times the overhead network per capita compared to the UK or Europe”.

He pointed to this as a reason why Ireland is experiencing a higher level of power outages than the UK.

Scams warning

Meanwhile, Garda Sergeant Michelle O’Halloran, Crime Prevention Officer, Limerick Division said that “as many households all over the country and within county Limerick remain without power and await restoration of power, it is important to be aware of this current scam text in circulation”.

“Scammers are posing as an electricity provider and we are urging you not to share any personal information with the scammers,” said Sergeant O’Halloran.

Sergeant O’Halloran advised people to “block” and “report suspicious numbers” to An Garda Síochána.

“Always independently verify requests for personal information and do not rely on messages from a thread of previous genuine texts,” Sgt O’Halloran said.

“Caution is needed surrounding such messages and I would again encourage people to discuss these types of crimes with elderly relatives and friends to alert them about this,” she added.

Water supply

Generators are now in place at all Uisce Éireann plants where they can be connected, however not all locations are suitable for wiring up generators.

Alternative water supplies and tankers are also in place in 50 locations across the country.

Head of Water Operations at Uisce Éireann, Margaret Attridge, said there is a continuing focus on working with the ESB to prioritise power restoration to treatment plants and pumping stations, alongside providing alternative water supplies to customers where supplies have been disrupted for longer periods.

“Our priority now is to ensure the restoration of electricity to our plants and pumping stations that are running on generators or remain without power because connection to a generator is simply not possible,” said Attridge.

She added that tankers and alternative water supplies will be deployed as required, and that Uisce Éireann will be updating its website and providing information to local stakeholders about their locations. 

With additional reporting from Diarmuid Pepper, Andrew Walsh, Jane Moore and David Raleigh