"We're out of water" says Council as power cuts have affected many areas in Leitrim

"It goes without saying that we're out of water as a local authority," said Vincent Dwyer, head of finance, Leitrim County County at today's (Monday) Ballinamore municipal district meeting, adding that it was no longer a "local authority issue" and it is now a Uisce Éireann issue.

He was speaking after Storm Isha caused power outages across the county on Sunday night which have led to school closures and water supplies being cut off. 

He said that he's been informed that the reservoir at Upper Mong is empty affecting Drumshanbo, Keadue, Keshcarrigan, Ballinamore, Mohill and Carrigallen. 

He continued that the thaw following the frost last week has caused a lot of leaks which "we are actively trying to find and fix. We need the public and businesses and especially farmers using drinkers to check their premises for leaks."

Mr  Dwyer said it was unknown when water supply would be restored.

"The fact that the reservoir at Upper Mong is empty; Mong Lower gets filled first and then Mong Upper gets filled after that so it's going to take some time." 

He added that electricity was due to be restored by 6pm today.

Council staff commended

Cllr Brendan Barry commended the fire service and staff who worked through the night in some instances.

"There was a lot of debris and stuff all over the roads and I want to commend all the good work that the ESB is doing to try and restore power. Something that this municipality should be doing, in my view, is calling on forestry companies and owners to clear trees that are continuously falling on ESB lines and leaving people without power. Oftentimes it knocks out huge big areas."

He added that it was also putting ESB staff at risk "going into these forests with so many trees unstable and forestry companies are very reluctant to do anything to deal with the trees. The government and the municipality here should be calling on the government to put pressure on these forestry companies to deal with this."

Mr Dwyer said that last night Ballinamore were called out to "cut a tree down and they actually had to cut seven trees to get to the tree; all five stations were at full pelt last night. Carrick was probably the first back today and some other staff are still out now."

Cllr Callais Ellis noted that many schools were closed today due to there being no electricity. "If the water won't be back tomorrow morning then they won't be able to open."

Mr Dwyer stated that the schools that didn't have power on Monday were closed but said that if power was returned by 6pm, "we should have water by tomorrow morning."

He admitted that if there are issues around pumping in relation to electricity supply, "that could hinder it. The Carrick plant never went down at all because Carrick never ran out of power overnight so it's more a combination of what happened last night and the fact that there are a lot of leaks out there arising from the frost."

Lots of trees and poles down in Manorhamilton area

Meanwhile at the Manorhamilton municipal district meeting which also took place on Monday, Eric Gilroy, Engineer at Leitrim County Council told members: "There are a lot of trees down and poles as well."

Mary Quinn, Director of Services, Housing, Corporate Services, Community and Cultural Services noted that a yellow wind warning was due to come into effect on Monday evening.

"Because we are on the back of a high orange alert, things could be a little bit more unstable then they would be if you were just going straight into a yellow warning. We would urge caution and for people not to travel unless they absolutely have to."

On Tuesday, another storm, Storm Jocelyn, will bring further risk of large waves along coastal areas, difficult travelling conditions, fallen trees, damage to power lines, and possible damage to already weakened structures.

Status orange warnings will be in place on Tuesday from 6pm until midnight for Galway and Mayo, and from 6pm on Tuesday until 2am on Wednesday for Donegal.

Ms Quinn concluded: "The wind can leave a lot of things unstable and what might look stable enough might not be stable so I think we should exercise a degree of caution."

Cllr Mary Bohan paid tribute to "county council staff who are out working in this and hopefully, they will all stay safe."

Cathaoirleach, Cllr Justin Warnock added: "And to the local people who went out and cut the trees that were blocking the country roads; it was good to it and thanks to them."