LIVE: Thousands of homes without broadband following Storm Éowyn
Jason from Treepro working on removing a large tree which was felled by Storm Éowyn on the Lee Road taking an old stone wall with it. Picture: Chani Anderson
It may take some time for mobile and broadband data to be fully functional again across Ireland, eir has warned.
They explained: “Storm Éowyn has caused significant and widespread disruptions to telecommunications services across Ireland. The storm’s severity has resulted in approximately 26,000 fixed voice faults and 63,000 fixed broadband faults, primarily due to power outages at exchanges and on our core network.
They added: “To support our customers during this challenging time, eir has deployed backup power to 1,300 Fixed Network sites and 200 Mobile Network sites. eir has commenced mobile generator deployment where it is safe to do so and our teams remain on standby to restore services promptly once conditions permit.
“Service restoration for core and mobile networks will proceed as a priority.
“It is expected that there will be a significant number of individual faults in addition to this, but the full impact of this will only become clear after power is restored and after resolution teams have prioritised making fallen poles and lines safe.
“Each individual fault will require a separate repair visit, and it will take some time for the full picture to emerge.”
“Extreme, damaging and destructive winds" have caused widespread and extensive damage to the electricity network across the country with approximately 725,000 homes, farms and businesses without power as of lunchtime, ESB have said.
This includes around 20,000 in Cork.
They added: “The damage nationwide to the electricity network and impact on customers is unprecedented.”
ESB Networks continue to closely monitor the storm impact on power supplies and all available resources including crews and partner contractors are now deployed where safe to do so, to assess the network and work to safely restore power as quickly as possible in challenging conditions.
An ESB spokesperson explained: “From our experience of previous significant weather events and due to the severity of Storm Éowyn, we expect that power restoration will take a significant number of days and will take more than a week in the worst impacted areas.
“It is important that any impacted customers who use electrically powered medical devices contact their healthcare professional to make alternative arrangements if necessary.
“Given the extent of the damage nationwide estimated restoration times (ERTs) will only be provided once our teams have assessed network faults and these will then be available to view throughout Saturday on www.PowerCheck.ie.”
ESB Customer Contact Centre Agents will be supporting customers throughout Storm Éowyn but will not be in a position to provide outage information until the network assessment has been fully conducted.
They added that a technical issue earlier today due to unprecedented volumes on ESB websites, including www.PowerCheck.ie, has now been fully resolved.
ESB again warned the public that if they come across fallen wires or damaged electricity network: “never, ever touch or approach these as they are LIVE and extremely dangerous. Please report any damage to electricity infrastructure by calling 1800 372 999.”
Currently, the only train in Ireland running is the Cobh to Midleton in Cork, as Iarnrod Éireann say that their crews are still working on clearing fallen trees across the rest of the train network.
Our crews encountering and clearing fallen trees around the network.
— Iarnród Éireann (@IrishRail) January 24, 2025
Cork to Cobh/Midleton services resumed, all other lines currently closed.
We will update when we can safely open other lines, expect significant disruption throughout the day. @TFIupdates #StormÉowyn pic.twitter.com/im8EkEvTfg
More than half of the 20 roads blocked overnight have been cleared by Cork City Council crews, with 12 roads now reopened.
Crews are continuing their efforts to clear the remaining blocked roads, working to restore access as quickly and safely as possible.
From 10am onwards, Cork City Council teams mobilised to address disruptions caused by the storm, focusing on the removal of fallen trees and debris from affected roads.
Cork City Council crews continue to work with Cork City Fire Brigade and ESB Networks. Cork City Council's Severe Weather Assessment Team continues to monitor the situation.
A Status Yellow warning is now in effect until 4pm this afternoon, they reminded, sharing the following emergency numbers:
- Cork City Council’s Customer Service Unit's can be contacted by calling 021-4924000.
- Emergency Services may be contacted by dialing 112 or 999.
- ESB Networks 24 Hour Emergency number is 1800 372 999 or 021 2382410.
- Power Outages can be monitored on powercheck.esbnetworks.ie.
- Updates from Uisce Éireann regarding water supply can be found on www.water.ie.
The public is advised to stay informed through Cork City Council's social media channels, where regular updates will be provided throughout the day.
Cork County Council crews are in response mode to the damage caused by Storm Éowyn across the county, as they shared more than 35 roads that are currently blocked.
Road conditions remain extremely challenging with fallen trees, fallen powerlines and substantial debris. The Council urges people not to undertake any travel unless absolutely necessary.
Issues reported by the HSE, Gardai, and essential utilities are being prioritised.
Priority areas for Council crews include reopening the R586 Ballineen to Bandon road; The R600 Kinsale to Ballinspittle road; and the R612 Carrigaline to Crosshaven road. These routes are currently impassable due to fallen trees.
The M8 Blackwater Viaduct, Fermoy and the N71 near Glengarriff Golf Club have both now reopened.
The council advised: “There are multiple hazards on streets, roads and footpaths and the public is asked to report any incidents to the Council’s Emergency Line on 021 4800048. The number will be available today and throughout the weekend.
“Phonelines and emails are down at Cork County Council’s offices in Cobh, Clonakilty, Schull, Bandon, Kanturk, Charleville and Millstreet. The public can contact the Council’s Emergency Line and their query will be dealt with as soon as possible.
There are multiple incidents of trees down across the county due to Storm Éowyn - at this point in time, the following roads are particularly impacted:
- R586 by Carhoon West: Tree blocking the road from Ballineen to Bandon. Road closed.
- Ballygarvan: Tree partially blocking Ballygarvan quarry entrance.
- Twomileinn to Mogeely: Reports of a tree down.
- R512: Tree down between Glanworth and Kildorrery.
- R619 Coachford: Tree down near GAA Pitch.
- N71 Smorane: Tree blocking one side of the road from Skibbereen to Leap.
- Quarry Hall Grenagh: Tree down.
- Mallow Golf Club: Tree down, road fully obstructed.
- L2225 Maglin to Jimmys Cross: Tree down.
- Killavullen Village to Fermoy: Tree down.
- Macroom, Ummera: Road blocked after tree fell on powerlines.
- Coachford to Carrigadrohid: Tree partially blocking the road.
- R629 Ballinacurra to Cloyne: Tree down, road fully obstructed.
- L2989 Ballard Hill: Tree down.
- L7009 Pottery Road, Cobh: Tree down, road fully blocked.
- Drakes Pool Rabbit Island: Access to Crosshaven completely blocked for emergency services due to tree down.
- Sheeps Head: Tree blocking the road.
- Copstown Cross to Liscaroll: Tree down.
- R600-196 Ballinspittle to Kinsale: Tree blocking the road just after the bridge.
- L5500-0 near Ballyhea GAA pitch: Reports of a tree down.
- Bear Forest Road, Ballyellis, Mallow: Tree down just outside College Wood Estate.
- N73 outside Mitchelstown: Tree down.
- Ballinrea Cross, Carrigaline: Reports of a tree down.
- Whitewell Cross from Whitegate: Tree down.
- Killumney village: Reports of a tree down.
- Cooldurragha, Union Hall: Tree blocking the road.
- Glengarriff: Tree down blocking the road in and out, near Glengarriff Golf Club.
- N22 Crookstown to Macroom: Tree blocking half of the main road.
- Carrigaline: Tree down outside the gate of Avondale United Pitch, blocking the road to Fernhill.
- Hilltop, Rafeen Hill: Tree down at the top.
- Ballymore to Cobh: Big tree down.
- R629 Balliancurra to Cloyne: Tree down.
- R630 Whitewell Cross, Rostellan side: Trees down, road open and passable.
- L-3627-0 Mogeely: Tree down, road blocked.
- N25 Midleton to Castlemartyr: Large branch down.
- L6463 Glen Road, Ballygarvan: Tree down on wires
The council advised: “Please be aware that this list will continue to evolve due to the ever-changing nature of the response, and as further information becomes available.
“A Status Yellow Wind warning remains in place until 4.00pm this afternoon which could lead to further damage.” Cork County Council will continue to provide updates on www.corkcoco.ie and across the Council’s social media channels @Corkcoco.
Thousands of homes across Cork are without power, as ESB crews work to assess the damage caused by Storm Éowyn.
The extent of the outages across Ireland, where over 715,000 homes and businesses were without power this morning, caused the ESB power check website to experience technical difficulties this morning, but the website is currently up and running again.
ESB advised: “Our Customer Contact Centre Agents will be supporting customers throughout Storm Éowyn but will not be in a position to provide outage information until the network assessment has been fully conducted.
“An Important Public Safety Message: If you come across fallen wires or damaged electricity network, never, ever touch or approach these as they are LIVE and extremely dangerous. Please report any damage to electricity infrastructure by calling 1800 372 999.”
A multitude of roads across Cork are dangerous or impassable due to a high number of fallen trees.
Cork City Council advised that Burkes hill from Mayfield GAA to N8 Lower Glanmire Road is impassable due to a fallen Eir pole, and that the road is closed.
They also said that fallen trees in Glen Avenue, North Ring Road near Shannon Lawn and Silver Heights are being tended to by their crews.
🚨Update🚨
— Cork City Council (@corkcitycouncil) January 24, 2025
Please note that fallen trees in Glen Avenue , North Ring Road near Shannon Lawn and Silver Heights are being tended to by our crews.@CorkSafetyAlert @corkbeo @CorkChamber @CBA_cork @echolivecork @corkindo @RedFMNews @Corks96FM pic.twitter.com/AvjFwerubn
Cork County Council are also working to clear numerous roads of fallen trees and debris, but shared this morning that the M8 Blackwater Viaduct, Fermoy has now reopened to traffic.
Flight operations have now resumed at Cork Airport, but some services throughout the remainder of the day may be operating with a delay.
Passengers intending to travel today are advised to contact their airline for the most accurate and up-to-date flight information.
Phonelines and emails are down at Cork County Council offices in Cobh, Clonakilty, Skibbereen, Schull and Bandon this morning.
The council said: “Please contact our Emergency Line at (021) 4800048 and your query will be dealt with as soon as possible.” Council crews began mobilising at 10am to respond to storm damage across the county.
They warned: “We are strongly advising the public not to travel as it will be some time before we get a full picture of the number of trees down.” There is a tree blocking the R600 Ballinspittle to Kinsale Road just after the bridge going towards Ballinspittle, and reports of trees down in many areas such as Glengarriff, Skibbereen, the Ballineen to Bandon road, Carrigadrohid, Crosshaven, Fivemilebridge, Cobh, Cloyne, and Killavullen, they added.
Cork city council advised: “Please bear with us as we mobilise to respond to the impacts of Storm Éowyn. Calls and incidents are being monitored, logged and prioritised. Our Severe Weather Assessment Team continues to monitor the situation.” They shared that their crews are currently attending to a tree down on the footpath at Bowling Road.
🚨Update🚨
— Cork City Council (@corkcitycouncil) January 24, 2025
Tree down on footpath on Bowling Rd.
Crews attending.#StormEowyn @CorkSafetyAlert @CorkChamber @CBA_cork @echolivecork @corkbeo @RedFMNews @Corks96FM pic.twitter.com/vEFY1YmaPK
Iarnrod Éireann posted an update at 10:39am, saying: “No trains operating until further notice.
“As Status Red clears, our crews mobilising to check & clear lines for safe operation. However we expect many fallen trees, damage to level crossings / overhead lines. We will update as soon as routes open.” Bus Éireann also said there will be extensive disruptions to services until around noon.
They explained: “We hope to begin operating services again from approximately 12.00 on most routes, however, disruption is expected due to difficult driving conditions because of storm damage.
The planned resumption of services is as follows:
- 201, 203, 203, 205, 206, 207/207A, 208, 209/209A, 212, 213, 214, 215/215A, 216, 219 and the 220/220X are set to resume full service from 12:00.
- 223 First trips - 12:20 ex Haulbowline and 12:20 ex Kent.
- 225 First trips - 12:10 ex Haulbowline and 12:20 ex Kent.
- 226 First trips - 11:50 ex Kent and 12:00 ex Kinsale.
- 233 First trip - 12:30 ex Cork- Farnanes.
- 235 First trip - 16:00 ex Cork – Donoughmore.
- 236 First trip - 11:30 ex Bantry- Cork.
- 237 First trips - 11:15 ex Skibbereen -Cork.
- 11:30 ex Cork Skibbereen.
- 239 First trips - 12:00 ex Bandon – Cork.
- 13:00 Cork – Bandon.
- 240 First trips – 15:30 ex Cork to Ballytcotton.
- 241 First trips – 14:45 ex Midleton – Whitegate.
- 243 First trips – 13:05 ex Mallow – Newmarket.
- 245 First trips – 11:30 ex Cork – Fermoy.
- 12:30 ex Fermoy to Cork.
- 14:15 ex Clonmel to Cork.
- 245X First trips – 12:00 ex Cork.
- 14.00 ex Dublin will begin from Cashel at 16.10. Bus Aras, Heuston Station and Newlands Cross will not be served.
- 248 First trips – 13:20 ex Cork to Glenville.
- 257 First trips – 15.00 ex Killarney.
- 16.25 ex Macroom.
- 260 First trips – 12:30 ex Youghal to Cork.
- 261 First trips – 11:08 ex Ballinacurra to Cork.
- 12:15 ex Ballinacurra – Cork.
- 270 First trip – 12:00 ex Skibbereen to Killarney (note 12:00 Kenmare/Killarney is cancelled).
- 271 First trip - 12:45 ex Tralee to Killarney via Castleisland.
- 272 First trip - 12:05 ex Tralee to Ballybunnion.
- 275 First trip - 12:30 ex Tralee to Dingle.
- 275 First trip - 14:00 ex Dingle to Tralee.
- 279 First trip- 12:30 ex Killarney to Tralee.
- 279 First trip - 12:45 ex Tralee to Killarney.
- 279A First trip - 15:10 Tralee to Cahersiveen.
- 284 First trip - 16:15 Tralee to Killarney.
For Expressway services, first trips will be as follows:
- 40 – 12.50 Tralee to Cork, 13.30 Cork to Tralee
- 11.40 Cork to Waterford
- 51 Cork - Limerick
- The 11.25 Cork to Limerick will operate as far as Limerick only.
- 13.05 Galway to Cork will operate from Limerick at 15.20. Galway to Limerick will not be served on this trip.
- 14.05 Galway to Cork will operate from Ennis at 15.20. Galway to Ennis will not be served on this trip.
- 14.05 Galway to Cork will operate from Ennis at 16.20. Galway to Ennis will not be served on this Route
214 & 216 South Main Street will be closed to traffic from Monday, 20th January, to Sunday, 2nd March, 2025, inclusive.
Route 214 ex Knockraha/Glyntown will operate as follows:
- Normal route to Kent Station, then via Penrose Quay, left for Brian Boru Bridge, ahead to Clontarf Street, right to Terence McSweeney Quay, left for Anglesea Street; right to South Terrace; ahead to Sullivan’s Quay and as per normal route.
- Temporary bus stops: Clontarf Street; Anglesea Street (City Hall) and Sullivan’s Quay
- Route 214 ex CUH is not affected.
- Route 216 ex Monkstown will operate as follows:
- Normal route to George’s Quay, continuing ahead to Sullivan’s Quay & Frenches Quay and as per normal route.
- Temporary bus stop: Sullivan’s Quay
- Services ex CUH are not affected.
The Red warning for Cork has ended as of 10am, with council, power and water crews set to begin assessing the damage and begin clearing roads and repairing faults.
Public transport is also set to resume shortly, though transport operators have warned that it may take some time to address the damage on routes.
Met Éireann has updated their warnings regionally – the status orange wind warning that was set to last until 4pm will now be lifted at 12 noon in Cork.
It will be replaced by a status yellow wind warning for Cork and 13 other counties, which will be in place from noon until 4pm.
There are reports of trees down in Shanballymore, Rockchapel, at the Marina, on the N22 Carrigrohane, at Spur Hill, on the N73 outside Mitchelstown, at Bear Forest Road in Mallow, Whitewell Cross, and on the R600 Ballinspittle side of the bridge in Kinsale.
Tree down at the Marina, blocking the walkway. Take care on approach. Image: Madeleine OC. #StormÉowyn pic.twitter.com/0cteOCJjva
— Cork Safety Alerts (@CorkSafetyAlert) January 24, 2025
Cork City Council advised that the Killowen Road in Blarney is blocked due to a fallen tree there, and advised people to avoid the Lee Road which is impassible due to a partial wall collapse.
🚨Update 🚨
— Cork City Council (@corkcitycouncil) January 24, 2025
Partial wall collapse on the Lee Road. Please avoid the area.@CorkSafetyAlert pic.twitter.com/I3Lh5EJQ3d
Uisce Éireann crews are assessing the impact of Storm Éowyn on water supplies across the country following last night’s violent storms.
Significant disruption to supply is expected due to widespread power outages impacting on water and wastewater treatment plants, pumping station and other network assets, with approximately 150,000 customers nationally potentially at risk of water supply disruption during the day as a result, though Uisce Éireann added that the majority should still have water due to storage in reservoirs.
Their incident management processes have been stood up and crews will mobilise to assess damage to plants and begin restoring normal supplies once the red-level warning has lifted and it is safe to do so.
They are also in touch with key stakeholders through the National Emergency Coordination Group and with the ESB to coordinate the return of power to key water services sites post storm.
In areas where supply has been disrupted, most properties should have adequate storage in their attic tanks for hygiene purposes for at least 24 hours. However customers are urged to conserve water where possible in order to protect supply while the outages are resolved.
There are some simple steps people can take to conserve their water, such as avoiding the use of water-intensive appliances during this time. To learn more about conserving water, visit www.water.ie/conserve.
Customers can stay informed about their local water supply by visiting www.water.ie, via Uisce Éireann’s X feed, @IWCare, or by signing up for our free text alert service via the website, or getting in touch via their 24/7 customer care centre at 1800 278 278.
Met Éireann has said Storm Éowyn will continue to bring strong to gale force southwest to west winds across Munster, reaching storm force this morning in coastal parts of the west, with destructive and damaging gusts.
The winds will gradually ease through the afternoon and evening. There'll be a mix of sunshine and scattered blustery showers, some of hail and with the chance of a little sleet later. Highest afternoon temperatures of 5 to 8 degrees but feeling much colder due to wind-chill.
Tonight will bring a mix of clear spells and scattered showers, these mainly in the west some of hail, sleet and snow.
The showers will become isolated later in the night. Lowest temperatures of -2 to +2 degrees with some frost and ice as winds decrease light to
It will be frosty to begin tomorrow, but it'll be mainly dry for a time with sunny spells.
Cloud will increase through the morning, with a band of showery rain moving into western parts through the morning, spreading eastwards through the afternoon, with a little bit of sleet too, mainly over higher ground.
Sunshine and scattered showers will follow from the west through the afternoon, some of hail and again a little sleet and possibly hill snow. There's a chance of a few isolated thunderstorms too.
A cold day with highest temperatures of 4 to 7 degrees. Southerly winds will increase fresh and gusty for a time, stronger in coastal parts, but easing again later.
Saturday night will be cold with clear spells and scattered showers for a time, some wintry. The showers will mainly be in the west and north early on in the night.
Lowest temperatures of -2 to +2 degrees generally, with some frost and ice. Southerly winds will be mostly light to moderate, backing southeasterly later in the night and increasing fresh to strong in coastal parts of the south and southwest. Cloud will start to increase overnight, with rain moving into southwestern coastal parts by morning.
It'll become wet and windy on Sunday, with a band of rain gradually spreading northeastwards through the morning and afternoon, some of it heavy and possibly thundery.
The rain will clear northeastwards later, but scattered showers will follow and with more persistent and heavy rain likely to move into the south and southeast in the evening.
Highest temperatures of 6 to 10 degrees in strong and gusty southeasterly winds, reaching gale force for a time in some coastal parts, decreasing mostly moderate southerly away from the west coast later in the day.
Sunday night will bring the chance of some persistent rain for a time to parts of the south and east, otherwise there'll be a mix of clear spells and scattered showers, these mainly in the west and south, some heavy and possibly thundery.
Lowest temperatures of 1 degrees in the north to 6 degrees in the south and southwest in mostly moderate southerly winds, but winds will be strong to near gale force in coastal parts of the south and west.
Reports of fallen trees at multiple locations across Cork.
These include on the road approaching Killumney village, a tree down and resting on wires between Kerry Pike and blarney, and a a tree down at Ballinrea Cross, Carriagline.
There are also reports of a partial wall collapse on the Lee Road.
Traffic very light on roads across the city and county this morning as people heed the call from multiple agencies to stay at home.
Cork has “escaped the worst” of the severe weather with other counties “far more impacted’ by the storm according to Cork County Council.
Padraig Barrett, director of services with the local authority, has told Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1 that whilst the storm was a ‘significant event” they were not worried about flooding at this time.
However, there is numerous reports of trees down this morning.
Cork City Council's director of services, David Joyce, warned that motorists who take to the to the roads will come up against fallen trees and power lines.
Cork Airport is showing delays to most flights this morning with cancellations of services to London Heathrow, Glasgow, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Bristol. Flights to Poznan, Seville and Paris are delayed.
Passengers are advised to keep in contact with airlines this morning in relation to the status of their flights. Members of the public are urged to take care on the roads if they intend to travel to the airport.
ESB Networks now says that 715,000 homes, farms and businesses across the country are without power.
A Status Red wind warning is currently in effect for Cork and two dozen other counties as Storm Éowyn continues to track across the country
The warning for Cork came into effect from 2am this morning and will remain in place until 10am, with Met Éireann warning of gale force southerly winds becoming westerly with “extreme, damaging and destructive gusts in excess of 130km/h.”
The national forecaster said impacts of the extreme weather event include:
- Danger to life.
- Extremely dangerous travelling conditions.
- Unsafe working conditions.
- Disruption and cancellations to transport.
- Many fallen trees.
- Significant and widespread power outages.
- Impacts to communications networks.
- Cancellation of events.
- Structural damage.
- Wave overtopping.
- Coastal flooding in low-lying and exposed areas.
Cork County Council’s Crisis Management Team convened throughout the night to monitor and assess the damage caused by Storm Éowyn.
"A Status Red Wind warning remains in place until 10.00am this morning and people are asked to continue to shelter in place," said a council spokesperson.
A Status Orange Wind warning will be in place until 4.00pm this afternoon with severe, damaging and destructive gusts forecast.
"The public is asked not to travel today unless absolutely necessary even after the red warning expires. Aside from the dangers of fallen trees, power cables and telecoms infrastructure, there will be a lot of debris on roads and footpaths," said the spokesperson.
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They said the local authority had received a low volume of calls overnight as the public heeded the warnings to stay indoors during this dangerous weather event.
The spokesperson said there will be multiple hazards on streets, roads and footpaths, with the public asked to report any incidents to the council’s Emergency Line on 021 4800048. The number will be available today and throughout the weekend.
"Cork County Council thanks the public for their understanding and patience as we respond to this severe weather event and the aftermath.
"The public is advised to stay away from coastal areas during this period.
This includes council offices, libraries, swimming pools, civic amenity sites and tourist facilities.
Telephone lines and emails will be operational wherever possible.
Mallow Castle Grounds and Fermoy Town Park will be closed to the public due to the risk of fallen trees. These facilities will be inspected for damage before being re-opened to the public.
Dursey Cable Car has been taken out of service due to the destructive winds. A post storm technical inspection will need to be undertaken before it can return to service.
Weather updates are available at www.met.ie. Cork County Council will continue to provide updates on https://www.corkcoco.ie/en and across the Council’s social media channels @Corkcoco.
ESB Networks is highlighting the dangers posed by fallen live wires and is advising the public and the emergency services to stay away from these fallen cables and to report such cases to it immediately.
ESB Emergency Services can be contacted at 1800 372 999. The public can monitor https://www.esbnetworks.ie/power-outages regarding power restoration times.
Uisce Éireann customers can check the website and social media channels for updates and to get in touch with any issues or concerns via their 24/7 customer care centre at 1800 278 278.
An ESB Networks spokesperson said teams will commence restoring power where safe to do so.
"There has been unprecedented, widespread and extensive damage to electricity infrastructure so far with power outages nationwide affecting 560,000 customers," said the spokesperson.
"We anticipate significant further outages as Storm Éowyn moves across the country."
"If you people across fallen wires or damaged electricity network, never, ever touch or approach these as they are live and extremely dangerous. Please report any damage to electricity infrastructure by calling 1800 372 999 ESB Networks crews and partner contractors will be deployed when safe to do so, to assess the network and work to safely restore power as quickly as possible in challenging conditions," said the spokesperson.
"Given the predicted extent of the damage nationwide, we anticipate restoration will take a significant number of days. Estimated restoration times (ERTs) will only be provided once our teams have assessed network faults and these will be available to view throughout Saturday on www.PowerCheck.ie."
With Met Éireann Status Red and Orange wind warnings remaining in place for the entire country until later this afternoon, the spokesperson said it was anticipated that significantly more power outages can be expected throughout the day.
"Even at current numbers, the damage to the electricity network and impact on customers has been unprecedented."
"Our Customer Contact Centre Agents will be supporting customers throughout Storm Éowyn but will not be in a position to provide outage information until the network assessment has been fully conducted."
Firstly, crews make safe fallen, low hanging wires and other damage to electricity networks. This may mean that these lines have to be switched out until they can be repaired.
Where possible, power supply is restored remotely from the National Distribution Control Centre using alternative power lines where available.
Prior to initiating repairs works, network technicians carry out full assessments of network damage, so that power can be restored systematically and safely.
Crews are initially dispatched to repair lines that will return service to the largest number of customers in the least amount of time.
ESB Networks focusses initially on high voltage transmission and medium voltage distribution lines where significant numbers of customers can be restored at once.
The next step is to restore the low voltage network that serves individual homes and smaller groups of customers.
Typically, this is a slower process as there can be large numbers of small faults on a line serving a small cluster of customers, often less than 10 properties.
Each individual repair can be time consuming (clearing fallen trees, debris, broken poles etc) and only restores power to small customer numbers who are served by that low voltage line on the network.
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