PA MediaNearly a quarter of a million customers are without power in the Republic of Ireland, as crews continue to repair “unprecedented” damage to the electricity network caused by Storm Éowyn.
Friday’s storm brought record wind speeds, with Irish weather service Met Éireann recording 183km/h (114mph) in Mace Head, County Galway.
ESB Networks said 246,000 are without power three days after the storm hit, and it could be Friday before the vast majority of those impacted will have their power restored.
Meanwhile 100,000 customers are without water, with a further 118,000 at risk due to power losses at water treatment plants.
Margaret Attridge of Uisce Éireann told Irish broadcaster RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme that most of those without water are on the west coast of the country, including: Clare, Galway, Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan and Meath.
ReutersThe worst hit county is Galway, with about 22,000 people without access to water.
Ms Attridge said additional generators have been secured to help return power to treatment plants.
‘Unprecedented’ destruction
Work has been ongoing throughout the weekend to help the clean-up operation after Storm Éowyn.
During its peak, about 768,000 people were without power.
A 20-year-old man died in the early hours of Friday morning after a tree fell on his car in County Donegal.
Kacper Dudek was travelling on the N14, north of Lifford, near Ballinalecky Cross, when the incident happened.
Family handoutOn Saturday, Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin said the destruction caused by some of the strongest winds on record was “unprecedented”.
Tánaiste (Irish deputy prime minister) Simon Harris confirmed that the Irish Defence Forces are providing helicopters to help ESB Networks restore power.
Eir and Vodafone have said that thousands of its customers are without broadband.
Fergal McCann from Eir told Morning Ireland it received over 2,000 calls over the weekend, and that the worst affected areas are in the northwest and midlands.
Clean-up and repairs could be further hampered by a status yellow wind alert, which was in place for counties Cork, Kerry and Waterford until 09:00 local time on Monday.
An alert is currently in place for County Wexford until 14:00 local time.
