INISHOWEN was yesterday
lashed by storms never before seen in the month of
May. ESB engineers from counties Sligo, Mayo, Galway
and Westmeath, travelled to the county to help local
ESB personnel as high winds and dangerous gusts
pummelled the region. Wind speeds of 144kmh were
recorded in some exposed places.
More than 3,000 customers were without power in the
county, with the worst of the outages affecting east
Donegal including Convoy, Raphoe and Lifford.
Up to 400 Inishowen customers were left without
electricity, with the worst-affected areas
Carndonagh, Muff, Burt and Newtowncunningham.
ESB area manager, Brian
Hegarty, said he had never before seen such high
winds for the time of year.
"It is absolutely incredible weather for May. I have
been working at this job for over 30 years and I
have never seen it like this before," said Mr
Hegarty.
"There has been widespread damage, mainly caused by
trees falling on lines."
He said any power trips at the county's major power
stations were quickly repaired. People were urged
not to touch fallen power lines.
About 90 ESB engineers in Co Donegal were joined
yesterday by some 30 personnel from other parts
including Sligo, Castlebar, Galway, Tuam and Athlone.
The company said it hoped to have everyone
reconnected by evening although some people could be
without power overnight. Meanwhile, some roads
around Inishowen including Greencastle were blocked
by fallen trees and debris while huge cargo ships
were tossed like dinghies in a stormy Lough Foyle.
