Met Eireann has forecast that Storm Ophelia will bring gale force winds with gusts in excess of 130km/h in the South East, South West, West, and North West tomorrow, Monday 16 October. The rest of the country will also be affected. These winds will cause damage to electricity infrastructure and we can expect loss of electricity supply.
ESB Networks is now at Red Weather Preparedness Level. All internal resources are on alert and will be deployed to respond to all electricity outages once it is safe to do so. We continually monitor the forecasts and real time events on the electricity network and will deploy resources safely to these events. Updates will be issued over the course of the weather event.
Crews from ESB Networks will be dispatched to the affected areas without electricity supply, making the electricity network safe and assessing the damage, so that they can restore power as quickly and effectively as possible.
ESB Networks would like to ask our customers to be prepared to be without electricity in case their area is hit by the storm:
- Have plenty of food and water available
- Have torches with spare batteries available
- Make sure your phone is charged and, if possible, have a phone charger at hand for your car
- Please check that elderly or vulnerable relatives and neighbours are prepared to be without electricity
- If you have electric gates, please check you know how to work them manually
An Important Public Safety Message: If you come across fallen wires or damaged electricity network, never, ever touch or approach these as they are LIVE and extremely dangerous. Please report any damage to electricity infrastructure by calling 1850 372 999.
Customers without power can check for updates on when their fault is expected to be repaired at www.esbpowercheck.ie or on the PowerCheck App for iPhone and Android devices.
If your fault is not logged please report it at https://www.esbnetworks.ie/
ESB Networks is reminding customers of the precautionary measures to take in the event of a power cut:
- Never approach broken lines or damaged poles, and keep children and animals away – report damage to ESB Networks at 1850 372 999 and listen to recorded messages carefully
- Turn off electric cookers, ovens, irons, etc. if electricity supply is lost
- Leave a light switched on so you know when power has been restored
- Take extra care if using candles, oil lamps or other naked flames
- Test smoke alarms with fresh batteries
- Ensure adequate ventilation if using gas heaters.
Real time information on power outages and restoration times is available at: www.esbpowercheck.ie with
View ESB Networks’ video on preparing for an outage during a storm at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
