Storm Callum: Homes without power in Limerick as high winds cause disruption

MORE than 2,600 homes and businesses are without power across Limerick this Friday morning after Storm Callum hit overnight.

While Limerick largely escaped the worst of the storm, there was high winds and heavy rainfall overnight Thursday into Friday.

Limerick Fire Service attended a number of trees down overnight, at Glin and Croom in the county and the Dublin Road in the city.

#StormCallum is making its presence felt and crews in the City & County have already been out to fallen trees. Please exercise caution in the morning as there a lot of debris on roads already #BePrepared pic.twitter.com/qx8GO4SnS5

— Limerick Fire (@LimerickFire) October 12, 2018

The ESB is reporting faults in Patrickswell, Croagh, Newcastle West, Abbeyfeale, Bruree and Garryspillane.

It is thought there are more than 2,600 homes and business premises without power. It is not known when service will be restored.

A spokesperson said: “Storm Callum hit Limerick City and County overnight and, as it stands there are a number of outages, the largest of which is in Abbeyfeale and is impacting on about 1300 homes, farms and businesses.

“Other outages include Patrickswell and Churchtown, near Newcastle West. Our storm response teams in the city and county are commencing work as the storm abates.

“Real time information is available on the PowerCheck App and on www.esbpowercheck.ie. We will publish more details later in the morning about estimated restoration times, but for now we are asking everyone to be very careful, there are lots of fallen trees which may be in contact with electricity wires. If you see any low hanging or damaged electricity wires, stay safe, stay clear and call us at: 1850 372 999.”

In Hospital, John the Baptist School is closed due to the power outages.

8am : Due to #StormCallum we have 30K customers without power this morning, mainly in the Southwest, we apologise for this interruption. We are currently evaluating all faults and https://t.co/cwxXH3FsWc will be updated with restoration times ASAP pic.twitter.com/BpXbxKbL2X

— ESB Networks (@ESBNetworks) October 12, 2018

Shannon Airport has said that its early morning flights are currently operating to, or ahead, of schedule. 

“There was only one flight disruption overnight due to Storm Callum which resulted in Ryanair FR 1349 from Fuerteventura diverting to Dublin and passengers and transferred by road to Shannon,” said a spokesperson.

“This has resulted in Ryanair FR102 from Shannon to Stansted being delayed with current departure time expected at 10:50am.

“As some passengers may experience delays to their schedule this morning, the airport continues to advise all intending passengers to check their flight status with their airline before travelling to the airport.”

The status yellow wind warning for Limerick is in effect until 9am this Friday.

Limerick City and County Council had convened its Severe Weather Assessment Team (SWAT) ahead of the arrival of Storm Callum.

As a precaution, flood defences were installed at O’Callaghan and Clancy’s Strands and along all quays in the city.