By Róise Collins
DONEGAL continues to recover from Storm Darragh which ravaged across the county on Friday night and Saturday morning.
In the midst of the Red Weather Warning a National Ambulance Service (NAS) ambulance responding to a call in North West Donegal was struck by a falling branch which smashed through the vehicle’s windscreen.
“Thankfully no crew member was injured,” a HSE spokesperson told the Donegal News.
“NAS crews continue to work throughout weather warnings to reach patients when they need assistance but the NAS urges people to take extra care during storms and only call 999 in an emergency,” they added.
At peak, 50,000 customers across Donegal lost their power over the weekend. ESB crews from Letterkenny and Killybegs depots mobilised swiftly once safe to do so, and restored supply to the majority of these customers through Saturday.
Approximately 13,000 customers remained without power overnight on Saturday, and crews continued work through Sunday.
Around 2,000 customers in more isolated pockets of the county remained without supply on Sunday.
All remaining customers without supply had their power restored by Tuesday evening.
An ESB spokesperson told the Donegal News that some of the repairs in more rural areas are temporary in nature, and there may be some interruption to supply in certain areas in the coming weeks while permanent repairs are put in place.
Despite oversea crews being called in from France to tackle the power outages across the country, the work locally was undertaken by Donegal-based crews and contractors.
“Many of these crews have since travelled south to the worst impacted areas in Leitrim and North Roscommon where they are assisting their ESB Networks counterparts there.
“That work is expected to take a number of days,” the ESB spokesperson added.
Water supplies have also largely returned to normal in Donegal.
However, a Boil Water Notice for customers supplied by Glenties – Ardara Public Water Supply remains in effect.
Uisce Éireann is continuing to monitor the situation and will assess the situation on a daily basis until operations return to normal, a spokesperson said.
Thankfully this weekend’s weather is forecasted to remain mild. A forecaster from Met Éireann told the Donegal News to expect plenty of cloud and limited sunny spells in the days ahead.
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