Donegal escapes worst of the weather but further south floods – power and phones out

Donegal has escaped the worst of overnight weather.
Motorists are warned of wind blown debris – the ESB and Eircom networks in Donegal, for the most part, stood up to the gusts and driving rain.
Met Eireann says there will be showers today some heavy with a risk of thunder.
Winds strong  to gale southeast at first will slacken during the morning and become strong westerly later.
Further south, eight and a half thousand households are waking up without power.
ESB Networks are reporting faults in Sligo, Galway, Cavan, Dublin, Tipperary, Limerick, Wexford, Waterford and Cork.
Waterford, Wexford and Tipperary were also hit with flooding as well as Cork – where parts of the city were left under two feet of water.
The City Council is to hold an emergency meeting this morning to discuss the latest floods.
In Dublin – one man had to be taken to hospital last night after a tree fell on his car – he was cut from the vehicle and taken to hospital where he is recovering.