Storm Éowyn: High winds causing chaos in NI with multiple road closures due to fallen trees
More than 93,000 homes and business in Northern Ireland are currently without power, NIE has confirmed.
Speaking on the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme this morning Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelley said 'preparations are there' as she urged the public to stay at home. It comes as more than more than 93,000 homes and businesses without power in NIThe DFM urged the public to monitor government channels for updates and said that 'mechanisms and protocols' have been activated. Ms Little-Pengelley said that people should follow advice and stay home, adding that there is a risk to life because of flying debris.
“If people go out and get into a situation, then that is calling out those essential workers, and we don’t want people to come out to have to deal with those," she said.
“So we are advising everyone to stay at home, there is a significant outage on the electricity, I understand that almost 500 have been reported right throughout Northern Ireland, that was anticipated."
Ms Little-Pengelley added: “I want to reassure the public that the preparations are there, the network is there in terms of stepping up, but what you can do, and everyone can play their part in this, is to stay home.
“The storm will blow over, the worst of it is here at the moment, and over the next number of hours, but of course we will get through that.
“We of course importantly have that information from other parts of this island this morning, because the storm has hit earlier in other parts.
“So we know that this is serious, and as I said yesterday we always want to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
“This is a very serious storm, it is a red alert, there is a significant danger, particularly from flying debris. If something is going on outside your house, stay inside because the danger to you is from that flying debris over the next couple of hours.” She encouraged people to reach out and call to check in on vulnerable neighbours, friends and family admitting that this was a very challenging time for some. But the DFM reminded people that they should not go outside, unless necessary. "I emphasise this very strongly, no matter what it is going on outside, stay inside and stay safe," she said.
“No matter what it is, there will be agencies on hand, as soon as it is safe for those people to go out, and to support to get electricity back on to get roads cleared.
“But stay off the roads and stay inside and do give those relatives and friends a calls and do make sure that they are ok.”
Addressing he electricity shortages, Ms Little-Pengelley said that 'preparations are there, the mechanisms and protocols have been activated, so we are monitoring this very very closely.'
“We anticipate this will only last for the next number of hours, and then we will take a look at what damage has been done, and we will do our best," she said.
Ms Little-Pengelley added that it was important to also keep frontline and essential workers safe during the worst of the storm.