Hundreds of trees have fallen, and thousands of homes and businesses are without power after Storm Ellen ravaged the country last night.
Cork was by far the county worst affected by the high winds, and one video shared to Twitter shows just how precarious circumstances were, following a status red warning that remains in place until 12pm today.
The video, shared by @Padraig_WMC, shows treacherous sparks repeatedly flying out of power lines in Cork.
When I say I screamed. Douglas #Cork now #StormEllen @CorkSafetyAlert pic.twitter.com/ouOzfeF6J9
— Pádraig (@Padraig_WMC) August 19, 2020
ESB Networks have advised to stay clear of electricity wires in stormy weather conditions.
Hi Padraig, can you please DM your location to us and we can attend to this if not already reported. Thank you #staysafe #stayclear of Electricity Wires.
— ESB Networks (@ESBNetworks) August 20, 2020
According to rte.ie, ESB Networks Operations Manager Derek Hynes said Storm Ellen was the third biggest storm the ESB has had to deal with in recent years.
Of the 194,000 premises that lost power in the storm, services have been restored to around 64,000 customers.
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Lead image via Twitter/@Padraig_WMC