Storm Éowyn: NIE says 'unprecedented restoration efforts' required as 214,000 remain without power
Storm Éowyn has left destruction in its wake after battering Northern Ireland with winds in excess of 100 mph.
Northern Ireland Electricity has advised as of 9:30pm approximately 214,000 homes and businesses remain without power due to extensive damage to the electricity network caused by Storm Éowyn. At its peak earlier today 30% of all premises in Northern Ireland had their power disconnected due to the high winds.
NIE said it will restore power to the vast majority of homes and businesses over the coming days. However, the scale of the damage means it will take many days before all customers have power restored. Weather conditions, and the ability to access locations will continue to be challenging with an ice and snow warning overnight, along with further wind warnings over the weekend. NIE said it is working with DFI and the PSNI to help clear over 1,000 blocked roads due to fallen trees and electricity wires.
Derek Hynes, Managing Director of NIE Networks, said: “Storm Eowyn has caused devastating levels of damage to the electricity network in Northern Ireland. Almost one third of the people here have no power. At this early stage, we believe that there are well over 4,000 locations in Northern Ireland where our network has been damaged by the wind or falling trees. Each of these locations will need to be visited. "Right now we are prioritising faults which affect the largest numbers of homes and businesses. It is likely that it will take us up to ten days to get to the final locations and restore power to those residents. We continue to work with government and other agencies to try to provide information to the most vulnerable in our society as we work through a long restoration effort.
"At this stage we have been able to restore power to more than 68,000 families and will work over the weekend to assess the scale of the damage, and to update estimated restoration times on our website. We will keep going until everyone has their power back.”
"For the next couple of days I am concerned that there will be fallen poles and wires in public areas. Please do not approach any electricity equipment and be extra careful around fallen trees as they often take electricity poles and wires with them as they fall. Please call us if you see anything that looks dangerous on 03457 643 643.”