The ESB has confirmed that there are 29,000 of its customers without power this morning (Wednesday, January 24) following the impact of two storms in just three days.
A spokesperson for the ESB told Agriland said that the number of customers who lost power in recent days is “broadly evenly split between both storms”.
The earlier storm, Storm Isha, was the more severe of the two, which saw well over 200,000 ESB customers lose power.
The ESB said its crews have been working since then to restore power to those impacted by Storm Isha.
Isha was followed by Storm Jocelyn, which saw strong winds nationwide yesterday evening (Tuesday, January 23) and into the early hours of this morning, resulting in Met Éireann wind warnings covering all counties, including Status Red warnings in some.
As of this morning, the Republic of Ireland is free of weather warnings. The Met Office in the UK has issued its equivalent of a Status Yellow warning for wind for all of Northern Ireland, which is currently in effect and will remain so until 1:00p.m this afternoon.
As of around 5:00p.m yesterday evening, 24,000 ESB customers remained without power as a result of Storm Isha. Apart from that, a further 14,000 had, by that time, lost power as a result of Storm Jocelyn.
Those who were awaiting restoration of power lost during Storm Isha were predominately located in the northwest of the country.
The ESB said some customers may yet be without power for a number of days, with Storm Jocelyn hampering restoration efforts in many areas.
The ESB said that any impacted customers who use electrically-powered medical devices should contact their healthcare professional to make alternative arrangements if necessary.
“We apologise for the disruption to family and commercial life this causes, and thank customers across the country…for their patience as our crews work to safely restore power,” the ESB said.
Again, the ESB reminded customers that they should never touch or approach fallen wires or damaged electricity infrastructure, as these may be live and extremely dangerous.
Any damage to electricity infrastructure should be reported by calling 1800 372 999.