ESB network the main victim of Storm Rachel

COLLAPSED?Local Danny Lally and his daughter Catherine survey the damage to a small bridge near Aughagower after Storm Rachel.?Pic: Neill O’Neill

Power outages and flooding the main consequence of Storm Rachel

Anton McNulty and Neill O’Neill

THE ESB network was the main casualty of the force of Storm Rachel last week, with over a thousand householders in the county suffering from power outages after 150 kilometre winds battered Mayo overnight on Wednesday.
The anticipated destruction and damage from the ‘Status Red’ [highest level] winds on the weather warning scale which hit the west coast on Wednesday evening failed to materialise, but the storm caused havoc with the electricity supply in the county and heavy rains, compounded by melting snow from the previous day, saw water levels in inland rivers and lakes rise significantly.
While the winds did not cause severe damage in the region, the lightning which accompanied the storm had a major affect on the electricity service causing a number of faults across the county.

Flooding
There was also reports of very high levels of water and surging currents in rivers, streams and lakes, which caused severe flooding to agricultural lands and even some properties. The county’s Fire Brigade were called out to intervene and pump rising waters away from several locations, where homes and businesses were at risk. At Cloonskill in Aughagower, a small bridge on a local road was washed away, by what is normally a soft flowing stream, while preventative action was required at homes and businesses at Mayneen, Tonranny, Horkan’s Hill and on the Mall in Westport, where surging flood waters threatened properties.
Blackout
On Thursday morning hundreds of households across the county and were left without power with 250 ESB customers in parts of Achill and close to 300 customers in Ballina left in darkness. Kilmeena, areas around Newport and Aughagower were also affected badly.
Despite the best efforts of the ESB crews to restore the power, the high number of faults meant many remained without electricity on Friday morning.
Close to 1,400 customers were estimated to be without power on Friday morning with 1,200 customers across Westport, Cong and Ballinrobe affected and a further 200 in the Ballina region.

Services affected
The advice of the Department of Education to schools in ‘Status Red’ areas was to close their doors on Thursday morning, and a large number of them heeded this advice. A number of other schools in the county remained closed in the morning when the winds were still high, but opened in the afternoon after the worst of Storm Rachel had passed.
Due to the diligence of the staff of Ireland West Airport Knock, who worked through the night on Tuesday to clear snow from the runway and carparks, there was a minimum of disruption. Only one flight, the Aer Lingus service from London Gatwick, was diverted and despite some heavy winds and snow at the airport during the week, the remaining flights landed and departed without delay.
The snow last Tuesday did cause some delays along the county particularly on minor roads where there was a lack of gritting taking place. Commuters in Westport faced delays of up to an hour along the Newport road when a number of cars were unable to get up the hill, known locally as Minister’s Hill, due to the compacted snow. Some damage to vehicles was reported around the down as a result of cars sliding.
The remainder of this week is expected to remain cold with patches of snow falling on high ground but early indications suggest that more normal daytime temperatures look set to return for Friday and for the weekend.