Friday 27 December 2013

Around 70,000 homes without power as storm chaos continues in Ireland

A Tree down on Blackhorse Ave near the Phoenix Park which brought down a Power line also

Storm force winds have caused chaos all over the country, blowing down trees, power lines, and telecoms networks.

More than 70,000 homes were left without power, and widespread travel chaos was expected to continue today as airports were forced to delay or divert flights, ferry companies cancelled sailings, and road networks were blocked by fallen trees and debris.
The ESB have confirmed that 9,000 customers have had their power restored this morning.
"We've brought it down by 9,000 to 61,000 and we're working on the network. There are a lot of fallen trees and wind-blown debris, some poles down and some damage to networks," a spokesperson for the ESB said.
"We had crews out all night making the network safe and we have construction crews out working on the network trying to clear those trees and isolate the faults."
The high winds also toppled many wheelie bins all around the country, creating obstacles on roads, and Iarnrod Eireann reported an incident where a trampoline that had been caught by the wind caused damage to overhead lines at Blackrock in Dublin, and another was hit by the 7.10am train from Waterford to Dublin at Kiltorcan but they have been cleared.
There are also delays of up to an hour on the Gorey-Dublin Connolly train service because of debris.
Pearse Street Train Station in Dublin is closed due to roof damage and will remain closed for the rest of the day. Trains are running through but not stopping at the station.
Iarnrod Eireann's spokesperson Barry Kenny said pieces of timber and "small bits of debris" has fallen down in the station.
He advised passengers to use either Tara Street or Grand Canal Dock until the storm has abated.
"We need the storm to abate before we can properly assess the situation."
Services from Heuston Station have also been affected by the weather. A fallen telegraph pole has been removed from the line between Hazelhatch and Sallins while some other unstable poles have been removed.

SOURCE-IRISH INDEPENDENT

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