Around 70,000 homes and businesses remain without electricity after Storm Ellen made its way across the country overnight.
Large power outages were recorded in Cork, Limerick, Clare and Galway.
Cork was hardest hit with reports of trees torn down by the winds. Local authorities have been responding to structural damage and flooding snce this morning.
Emergency response crew were on standby throughout the night to check for fallen trees or debris and have been responding since early this morning.
ESB Networks said 70,000 homes and businesses remain without power this afternoon, with crews to work into the night to restore power wherever possible.
Those still impacted are being told to prepare to be without power overnight and into tomorrow, with a small number of people potentially to be left without electricity until Saturday.
Meanwhile, communities across the country have been cleaning up the damage.
Emergency Response Crews of over 100 people are on standby in Cork City centre tonight.
They will be out after midnight to check for fallen trees or debris and make sure it’s cleared before morning. #StormEllen pic.twitter.com/vBJ06vlx1n
— Kacey O'Riordan (@KaceyORiordan) August 19, 2020
Cork bore the brunt of Storm Ellen after she made landfall last night, 40,000 homes and businesses left without power at the height of the outages.
Reporting from the area this morning, Newstalk reporter Kacey O'Riordan said things were "really, really rough overnight" with boats washed ashore and trees felled.
She said there was a particular concern for people who may have been camping along the Cork coast.
“Lots of people are on staycations at the moment and we had that report yesterday from AIB which found that Cork was the most popular spot for holiday makers,” she said.
“So, this is actually a really big concern and consideration for Cork County council in particular, who urged those who are camping or in caravan to seek alternative accommodation indoors.
“Especially as lots of those sites would be in coastal and scenic areas, it is very important that visitors took that advice seriously and made other plans. Hopefully everybody did stay safe.”
Clean up efforts are underway in Cork city #StormEllen pic.twitter.com/Z3Ca7iXWIB
— Kacey O'Riordan (@KaceyORiordan) August 20, 2020
Skibbereen
Skibbereen in West Cork was severely flooded, with 20 businesses and a number of homes on Bridge Street damaged.
Michael Callaghan - who owns an alterations service - has been assessing the damage.
“At a rough guess €2,000 or €3,000 to replace all the flooring but there was no damage to the customers clothes which is a blessing,” he said.
Locals say Skibereen was caught off guard as it has a robust flood defence scheme in place. But water came from a different area than with previous floods, known as The Cutting.
Local Councillor Karen Coakley said people are extremely angry with the local authority.
“I mean, something is missing here,” she said. “There has to be some reason this has happened and there has to be an investigation into it. It is not good enough.”
Shops on Bridge Street in Skibereen are dealing with the aftermath of #StormEllen pic.twitter.com/wXiTyxsBGf
— Kacey O'Riordan (@KaceyORiordan) August 20, 2020
The Skibbereen flood release scheme cost €18m to put in place and on Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Aidan Weir, Senior Engineer with Cork County Council said crews will now investigate what went wrong.
“There are indeed flood defences in Skibbereen and it is a real cause of concern as to how Bridge Street got flooded last night,” he said.
“But as I say, fire crews responded really well and it is under control at this point.
“But there will be investigations carried out as to how this culvert at Rossa Road was unable to deal with it.”
Cork City Centre appears to have gotten off somewhat lightly with the storm; however, the city council has issued warnings to locals and businesses that there is a risk of tidal flooding tonight and is urging them to prepare.
Warnings
Met Éireann’s Status Red wind warning for Cork was in place until midnight with orange level warnings in place across the south and west until this morning.
A Status Yellow rainfall warning will remain in place for the entire country until 5am tomorrow morning. Meanwhile a yellow wind warning comes into effect from 5pm for Dublin, Louth, Wexford, Wicklow, Meath, Cork, Kerry and Waterford.
Cathal Nolan, from Ireland's Weather Channel, says it was the worst weather to hit the country since Storm Ophelia, which claimed three lives in 2017.
“Certainly, the storm ranks pretty evenly with Storm Ophelia,” he said.
“Some parts of the country have seen gusts of wind over the course of the past number of hours that have even exceeded the levels that were recorded during Hurricane Ophelia.
“The damage, let’s say the power supplies that have been lost – that is of a similar nature to what was experienced during Ophelia.”
Very windy today, with bright or sunny spells & scattered heavy showers, merging to give longer spells of rain at times, with risk of thundery downpours & localised flooding. Max temps 16 to 19°C, in strong & gusty southerly winds, reaching gale force at times in coastal areas. pic.twitter.com/jtsNtPqDVn
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) August 20, 2020
Spot flooding has been reported in parts of west Cork with local TD Holly Cairns tweeting a video of a flooded Bridge Street in Skibbereen.
Parts of Kinsale and Bantry have also seen flooding.
Skibbereen now. #StormEllen #WestCork pic.twitter.com/ZyWoZ81lFr
— Holly Cairns TD (@HollyCairnsTD) August 19, 2020
