Crews from abroad to aid Storm Éowyn cleanup in Donegal

As a major cleanup from Storm Éowyn continues, teams of workers have been drafted in from abroad to aid in the operation.

With around 17,000 homes and businesses in Donegal still without power, the ESB has drafted in support from aboard.

Fallen trees, power lines and debris are strewn across various parts of the county with many also without water.

A 20-year-old man, Kacper Dudek, lost his life when a tree fell on his car as he travelled home on the N14 at Feddyglass, Raphoe, on Friday morning from a shift at Zeus in Letterkenny. Several trees fell onto the N14 in the Tullyrap area and the road remained closed into Monday.

Almost 90,000 ESB customers were left without power during a Status Red warning on Friday.

While the ESB say that “the vast majority” of those impacted will have power restored by Friday, January 31 many will be in the dark into February.

“All available crews in our Killybegs and Letterkenny depots, as well as contracting partners, are now deployed across the county,” an ESB spokesperson told Donegal Live.

“Support is being received from Great Britain and we have requested further support from electricity network operators across Europe that will be deployed in the worst impacted areas. 

“In addition, ESB Networks crews from the south and east of the country are also being redeployed once restoration in their areas has been completed, while skilled retirees from ESB Networks are also being redrafted to assist.”

As many as 100,000 customers nationwide are expected to be without power into the weekend and early next week.

A spokesperson described Storm Éowyn as “by far the worst storm experienced by ESB Networks both in terms of customers losing supply and the scale of damage across the network”.

The onset of Storm Herminia on Sunday impacted on the power restoration effort.

A significant volume of workers from Donegal County Council were involved in the efforts to remove blockages and clear 

The Council advise that the Donegal Civil Defence are available to provide essential services to the vulnerable in the community. They say that calls received will be triaged with medical interventions and home support calls prioritised. Anyone in need of assistance is asked to contact Donegal Civil Defence on 074-9153900.

Uisce Éireann crews are also on the ground across Donegal continuing to work to restore water supplies. 

Power outages at treatment plants and pumping stations continued to impact on supplies across the county into Monday morning. There were also a number of rural satellite pump stations that remained affected by power supply outages across the county.

“This unprecedented storm event has had a severe impact on our water and wastewater network nationwide,” Head of Water Operations at Uisce Éireann, Margaret Attridge, said.

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“It may take some time before full service is restored everywhere. We ask for the public’s continued patience during this challenging time.”

In locations where water supplies have been impacted for longer periods, Uisce Éireann say they are deploying alternative water supplies.