By Diarmaid Doherty
THOUSANDS of homes and businesses in Donegal may well have do without power for several more days as efforts continue to restore normal service following Storm Éowyn.
Many homes in the county have not had any power since early on Friday morning when the worst of the storms battered the county.
A number of homes and businesses have also lost their water supply.
In a statement issued this lunchtime, ESB Networks say they anticipate that the vast majority of homes and businesses across the country will have supply restored by next Friday night, January 31.
However, there are many customers, including a number in Donegal, who may have to wait until into the following week before power is restored.
“In the past 24 hours, ESB Networks has published estimated restore times for most of its faults on www.PowerCheck.ie, which are now our most accurate indications based on fault site assessments of when customers can expect to have their power restored,” an ESB Networks spokesperson said.
“As of 12 noon (Sunday), ESB Networks has restored supply to 438,000 homes, farms and businesses – 330,000 customers remain without supply, down from a peak of 768,000 on early Friday morning following the unprecedented impact of Storm Éowyn.
“We anticipate that the vast majority of customers who lost power during Storm Éowyn will have supply restored by Friday night, 31st January. For the remaining customers, these will progressively have power restored over the course of the following week. This could be as many as 100,000 customers.
“Crews have continued to work in difficult conditions through Storm Herminia today: while this storm hasn’t caused significant damage to the network, it is hampering power restoration efforts in places. Power restoration efforts will remain dynamic and weather conditions may impact on the restoration work.
“We are engaged with utilities across Europe and we expect support to arrive from the GB in coming days.
“In addition, ESB Networks crews from the south of the country and Dublin are being deployed across worse impacted areas, while skilled retirees from ESB Networks are also being redrafted to help.”
ESB networks are advising customers to sign up to the ‘Keep me Notified’ service for power outages on www.PowerCheck.ie to receive status updates directly.
“We have also been made aware of scam text messages purporting to come from ESB Networks. We ask that customers do not engage directly, do not share any personal information if asked, and block and report the suspicious number if necessary,” the spokesperson added.
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