About 500 properties still without power days after Storm Amy
7 hours ago Share Save Ali Gordon BBC News NI Share Save
Pacemaker Fallen trees and branches blocked several roads during Storm Amy, including the Templepatrick to Antrim road at Dunadry, County Antrim
About 500 properties in Northern Ireland are still without electricity in the aftermath of Storm Amy. The storm, which made landfall on Friday, caused damage to power lines, schools and vehicles. NIE Networks said it is "doing our very best" to get as many as possible reconnected. In the Republic of Ireland, a man in his 40s died in County Donegal on Friday in a "weather-related incident", and about 2,500 properties are still without power.
All trains, including cross-border services, were cancelled on Friday night and for most of Saturday morning because of the weather conditions. But, on Sunday, Translink said that the majority of services across the bus and rail network have now been restored and are running as normal. The Education Authority (EA) said 33 schools in Northern Ireland had reported "storm-related incidents" - mainly damage to roofs and fallen trees - to its maintenance services. It added that about 90 schools lost power, but the supply had been restored for all. No schools are expected to close on Monday as a result of storm damage. A yellow wind warning issued by the Met Office expired at 23:59 BST on Saturday. A peak wind gust of 92mph (148km/ph) - provisionally a new October record - was recorded at the Magilligan weather station in County Londonderry on Friday.
Pacemaker There was some flooding in parts of Northern Ireland
Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins thanked the teams who worked "tirelessly" in "very dangerous and challenging" conditions to respond to the damage and disruption caused by the storm. She said 1,457 incidents were reported to the Department for Infrastructure, including more than 350 flooding issues and 1,018 obstructions, such as fallen trees. "They have been working hard to clear the affected parts of our road network, to mitigate the effects of flooding through proactive measures, maintaining critical drainage infrastructure as well as restoring power and water to homes and getting the public transport network back to normal," she added. "This is the work that so often goes unseen but is essential in reconnecting our communities and making our road network safe."
Power cuts
At the height of the storm, about 65,000 properties were without an electricity supply after strong winds brought trees down and damaged the network. NIE said the worst affected areas for power outages were Craigavon, Enniskillen, Omagh, Downpatrick, Ballymena and Dungannon, with community assistance centres opened for those without electricity. Alex Houston, NIE's Networks operations manager, said they hoped to have all remaining customers reconnected on Monday and crews were being redirected to affected areas. "We would like to thank those impacted for their patience while our crews worked through the damage caused by the high winds," he added. "I would also like to thank our teams and contracting partners who once again stepped up and worked long hours over the weekend to ensure power could be restored as quickly as possible." Mr Houston warned that some customers may face possible disruption in the coming days while permanent repairs are made.
Jimmy O'Reilly will not have full power restored until Monday
Jimmy O'Reilly, 85, from Drumaness near Ballynahinch, has been without power since Saturday morning. "We have been shivering with cold and layering up with our clothes," he told BBC News NI. "It's such an inconvenience and it worries you that this would keep happening every time there's a storm. "Family and friends brought us hot food and rallied around." Mr O'Reilly will not have full power restored until Monday, but he praised the "amazing" NIE workers who are helping rural areas and who installed a generator for him. Sinn Féin councillor Jim Brennan praised the local community for "pulling together" over the weekend and the NIE staff for "working so hard".
On Saturday, a number of NIE's emergency maintenance teams were deployed across Northern Ireland to reconnect homes to the grid
Broadband
Fibrus told BBC News NI on Sunday afternoon it is "aware of approximately 1,000 customer-reported fibre faults" and 108 damages to the network. It said that service has been restored to more than 1,500 customers so far. A "complete picture will only emerge as power is fully restored", it added. Openreach, a communications firm which looks after the broadband network, said its engineers "were out in force assessing and repairing reported damage as soon as it was safe to do so". "Current broadband numbers may be impacted by power outages however once power is restored, hubs should start working again," its spokeswoman said. "We would encourage all members of the public to log any phone/broadband issues directly with their communications provider."
PA Media In the Republic of Ireland, some 184,000 properties lost power due to the storm on Friday
In the Republic of Ireland, some 184,000 properties lost power on Friday, but that number had fallen to around 6,000 on Sunday evening. The Electricity Supply Board (ESB) said the majority of those still affected should have their power back by Sunday evening, but warned some in the worst affected areas may be without electricity into early next week. The worst affected counties are Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and Roscommon.
On Saturday, Uisce Éireann (Irish Water) said about 4,000 homes - mainly in County Donegal - were without water and that crews were working to restore supply "as quickly as possible".
Emergency contacts
[SRC] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cre54q28wrro
