Some 400 ESB Network repair crews worked throughout the day in Cork today to half the number of customers left without power as a result of Wednesday's storms from 50,000 to 25,000 by 6pm.
ESB Networks southern divisional manager, Denis Cambridge said that crews were still hoping to further reduce the number of customers without electricity in Cork city and county to between 15,000 and 20,000 by the time they finished up for the night at 9pm.
Mr Cambridge said that bulk of those still without power were in the Fermoy area in North Cork and around Bandon and Dunmanway in West Cork with all but a few isolated pockets totalling around 100 homes still without power in Cork city and its environs.
“Cork and Kerry bore the brunt of the storm with 80pc of faults - we’re currently down to about 1,000 individual faults in Cork but we hope to take another big chunk out that tomorrow so by tomorrow night we’ll be down to a few isolated pockets of small numbers.”
Meanwhile Cork County Council issued water boil notices for householders in various parts of the county as many areas were left without proper supplies due to pumphouses being out of action due to electricity line faults.
And Cork County Council staff were out again today clearing hundreds of fallen trees across the county after the Force 11 storms on Wednesday which caused particular problems in West, North and Mid-Cork leading to many roads being blocked.
Meanwhile Iarnrod Eireann confirmed that all of its mainline and commuter rail services out of Cork were operating normally by 4pm this afternoon following the cancellation of services for a period on Wednesday due to fallen trees and debris on the line.
According to Barry Kenny of Iarnrod Eireann, all Cork-Dublin mainline services were operating as normal from this morning as were commuter services from Cork to Midleton and Cobh while the Mallow to Tralee line came back into service at 4pm.
At Cork Airport where some 23 flights were affected on Wednesday due to the near hurricane winds hitting the airport, all flights were operating from this morning albeit with delays particularly on departures.
Cork Airport Marketing Manager, Kevin Cullinane explained that some flights were delayed because aircraft had to be reposition at Cork having been diverted to other airports on Wednesday while freezing overnight temperatures also led to delays as planes had to de-iced.
“We have some delays on departures alright this morning but we expect all 12 flights due to leave between 6am and 1pm today to get away while we also have had some delays on the five inbound flights - delays of up to 20 minutes but nothing significant,” he said.
However Cork City Council tonight issued a warning regarding high tides in the city tomorrow and warned that Morrisson’s Island, parts of the South Mall, South Terracee, Wandesford Quay and French’s Quay are facing flooding between 5pm and 6pm.
“Road and street closures will be put in place in the city centre from 4.30pm until 6.30pm and parking and access will be restricted during the period,” said Cork City Council in anticipation of high tides and further storms forecast by Met Eireann.
