Over 1,500 remain without power across Laois as ESB crews work to repair damage

There are still more than 1,500 homes and businesses without power across Laois as ESB crews continue to restore damage caused by Storm Darragh. 

As of 1pm on Sunday, December 8 there were 586 ESB customers without power in the Mountrath area with an estimated restoration time of 8.45pm. 

There are 461 without power in the Ratheniska area. There are almost 100 without power near Ballinakill and a further 159 in the Abbeyleix area. There are 96 without power in the townland of Knocklead and in Mountmellick there are 71 customers without power with an estimated restoration time of 7pm on Sunday evening. 

In Portarlington and the surrounding areas there are 104 without power and in Portlaoise and the surrounding areas there are around 50 outages. 

There are also a small number of outages in Crettyard, Wolfhill and Emo. 

Nationally at 12pm today, approximately 80,000 homes, farms and businesses remain without power following extremely strong and gusty winds associated with Storm Darragh which caused widespread and extensive damage to the electricity network across the country. ESB Networks teams have restored power to 315,000 customers impacted by Storm Darragh.

The impact is nationwide but some of the most affected areas are in the North West, Midlands and South East.
Storm Darragh is similar in impact to Storm Ophelia in 2017, which left 385,000 customers without power at the peak but with more widespread impact across the country.

An ESB spokesperson said:"All ESB Networks crews and partner contractors mobilised again at first light to continue to safely restore power to as many customers as possible in challenging conditions.
"The majority of customers impacted by Storm Darragh have had their power restored but significant numbers will be without supply for a number of days. Due to the severity and significant scale of the damage some customers could be without power for approximately a week. Assessment of the extent of damage is continuing.

"It is important that any impacted customers who use electrically powered medical devices contact their healthcare professional to make alternative arrangements if necessary.

"Given the scale of the damage and the dynamic nature of the event, we will continue to update restoration times for customers and we will update www.PowerCheck.ie as information is confirmed. We advise customers to sign up for our “Keep me Updated” service for power outages on www.PowerCheck.ie to receive status updates directly. Our Customer Contact Centre Agents will be supporting customers throughout Storm Darragh but will not be in a position to provide outage information until the network assessment has been fully conducted which is still ongoing in some of the worst affected areas.

"We acknowledge the disruption to family and commercial life this causes, and thank customers across the country, especially those who will remain without power, for their patience as our crews work to safely restore power."