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Storm Amy: 13,000 remain without power

Outages are mainly in Donegal, Leitrim, Roscommon, Galway and Mayo
Outages are mainly in Donegal, Leitrim, Roscommon, Galway and Mayo

Around 13,000 homes and businesses remain without power and a number of flights have been cancelled at Dublin Airport as the impact of Storm Amy continues to be felt around the country.

The outages are mainly in Donegal, Leitrim, Roscommon, Galway and Mayo. This figure is down from 49,000 earlier this morning.

ESB Networks said that more than two-thirds of customers who lost power due to the storm have had their supply restored, but warned that some customers in the worst affected areas may be without power into the early part of next week.

Uisce Éireann estimates that around 4,000 homes in Donegal may be without water, adding that the impacts of Storm Amy have been greatest there and they are working to restore supply.

Regional Operations Manager for the Northwest Anthony Skeffington said: "Our incident management processes are in place since before the storm hit and crews have mobilised to maintain and restore supplies.

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"Where necessary we have deployed mobile and fixed generators to restore power and restore plants to production."

Donegal County Council has opened a number of community hubs to offer support to people without water or electricity, in the aftermath of Storm Amy.

The centres will provide basic and essential services, at a range of locations around the county.

The local authority said there has been a remarkable response from community groups in assisting with the initiative.

A total of eight centres will provide shower facilities, phone charging points and other services for a number of hours tomorrow.

They will be located in Carndonagh, Buncrana, An Bun Beag, Ardara, Teileann, Donegal Town, Ballyshannon and Castlefinn.

In addition, Donegal Civil Defence is offering to collect and deliver essential supplies to vulnerable people in the county.

Transport is also being made available to those who may need medical interventions, such as dialysis or cancer treatment.

A local call centre to assist with queries will operate from 9am to 4.30pm tomorrow. It can be contacted on 074 915 3900.

Flights cancelled

Meanwhile, Dublin Airport spokesperson Graeme McQueen said around 20 flights were cancelled this morning and a number of other flights were delayed as a result of weather issues.

He said that flight operations continued through the night, and that a number of flights, which were unable to depart yesterday, left this morning.

A flooded car park in Galway
Storm Amy brought high winds and heavy rain to many parts of the country

He said wind speeds are due to decrease gradually through the day and most airlines are expecting to run full schedules.

"However, with further disruption possible, passengers due to fly today should keep in touch with their airline for latest updates on the status of their flight."

Mr McQueen added that due to the storm's impact, more passengers than normal were in the terminal and, as a contingency measure, a decision was made to close some of the bars in the terminals slightly earlier than usual.

"This would be standard practice on bad weather days which result in delays and cancellations. We thank passengers for their patience on what has been a challenging 24 hours due to the weather," he said.

Status Yellow wind and rain warnings for Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Clare, Kerry, Galway, Mayo, Louth, Dublin and Wicklow have expired.

Donegal County Council said its crews are dealing with a number of fallen trees throughout the county, which was under an Orange weather alert until 8am this morning.

The majority of main roads are passable, but the council is urging people to be aware of fallen debris and surface water on the roads.

Advice to public

People are being advised to report any issues and to stay well clear of any fallen trees or poles, which could be concealing live wires.

The storm also brought localised flooding, fallen trees, transport disruption and school closures.

The UK Met Office said a provisional October wind gust record for Northern Ireland was set as 148km/h winds were measured at Magilligan in Co Derry.

Belfast International Airport said it was expecting delays this morning and advised passengers to check with airlines.

NIE Networks urged the public to stay clear of any power lines or damaged electricity equipment and report sightings immediately.

At its peak, Storm Amy caused a loss of supply to approximately 65,000 customers across Northern Ireland,

Alex Houston, NIE Networks operations manager, said: "This is still an evolving picture, given the ongoing yellow alert, however we anticipate it may take a number of days before the restoration process fully concludes based on similar events such as Storm Darragh."