Thousands without power in Northern Ireland after Storm Darragh

Community assistance centres are open for the thousands of households who are still without power after Storm Darragh.

Latest figures from NIE Networks show that about 95,000 homes were affected by power cuts over the course of the storm, with about 3,000 customers remaining without power.

NIE Networks say it may be a number of days before they can reconnect all those affected.

The energy provider said it had deployed 600 staff and was working to bring in additional personnel from across the UK.

NIE Networks operations manager Alex Houston said: “Most of the faults affecting high numbers of customers have been repaired which has allowed us to restore significant numbers of customers.

“However, there are still around 1,200 faults across the network some of which are affecting very small numbers of customers so we do anticipate that it will take some time before we can get all of these cleared.”

Stephen Haughey was getting ready for bed on Saturday morning when he heard an “unmerciful bang” as a large tree fell 15m away from his family’s home in Bayview Gardens in Londonderry.

“I looked out and there was the tree on two cars, within 10 seconds it was down,” he told BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme.

One of the vehicles had been written off, he said.

“Soft top it looks like… it’s totally ruined now,” he added.

Mr Haughey said the other car suffered “superficial damage” and he is “quite pleased with that one”.

Describing the incident as unbelievable, Mr Haughey said he was in a “state of shock” on Saturday morning.

“It was an anxious night, there’s quite a few big trees around us,” he said.

“We’re just lucky no one was injured, I’d a young family in the house.”

Paul Wright and his son Luca were among those affected by power cuts on the Markethill Road area in Craigavon.

“We’ve been without electricity for about 24 hours.

“So we’re doing a lot of talking to each other instead of playing with our tablets.

“We’ve been lucky to have family close by.”

NIE Networks will open community assistance centres across Northern Ireland from 12:00 – 14:00 and 17:00 – 19:00 on Monday to offer assistance to those still without power.

The centres will be at the following locations:

• South Lake Leisure Centre in Craigavon
• Seven Towers in Ballymena
• Kilkeel Leisure Centre
• Joey Dunlop Leisure Centre, Ballymoney
• Omagh Leisure Centre
• Donaghadee Community Centre
• Dungannon Leisure Centre

The centres will offer warm drinks, charging and changing facilities and NIE Networks staff will be on hand to answer any queries.

The Red Cross will also be working with NIE to provide support in a number of locations across Northern Ireland.

An amber warning for wind – the second highest level of weather warning – was issued from 01:00 GMT until 15:00 on Saturday.

A yellow wind warning had them come in until 06:00 on Sunday.

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) said it responded to about 900 incidents, mainly debris on roads, fallen trees and flooding.

Essential travel only was advised on Saturday and there were several road traffic accidents.

A substantial number of road closures remain in place and road users are advised to plan their journeys in advance.

At one point on Saturday morning, there were no trains running in Northern Ireland but many lines have now resumed albeit with delays.

Bus services, flights and ferries were also affected.

Electricity generation was temporarily suspended at Ballylumford, one of Northern Ireland’s main power stations, after the natural gas-fired power station reported structural damage to one of its smaller chimneys.

A number of festive events were cancelled and councils closed some facilities on Saturday and Sunday.

All six Irish Premiership games were cancelled, with late postponements having left fans in an “appalling situation”, according to Communities Minister Gordon Lyons.

Storm Darragh is the fourth named storm of the season, following Ashley, Bert, and Conall.

The strongest gusts on Saturday included:

• 78mph (126km/h) at Orlock Head, County Down
• 71mph (114km/h) at Killowen, County Down
• 68mph (109km/h) at Magilligan, County Londonderry

In the Republic of Ireland, gusts of 87mph (140kmh) were recorded in County Galway as the storm moved in from the Atlantic.

At the height of the storm, around 400,000 homes and businesses were without power in the Republic.

ESB Networks said a “significant number” of homes and businesses could remain without supply over the coming days due to the damage caused.

All the latest road closures and fallen trees can be found on the Traffic Watch NI website.

For the latest on weather you can check the Met Office website, or keep up to date with BBC weather.

To report faults or emergencies you should contact:

• Northern Ireland Housing Executive: 03448 920 901
• Openreach: 08000 23 20 23 or visit openreach.co.uk
• Gas networks: 0800 002001
• NI Water: 03457 44 00 88 or visit niwater.com
• Flooding Incident Line: 0300 2000 100
• NIE Networks: 03457 643 643 or visit nienetworks.co.uk