Donegal County Council issue public safety advice


Donegal County Council have issued renewed public safety advice ahead of the impending red warning for Ireland.

Included in the advice is to exercise extreme caution, remain in doors and charge all devices in light of expected multiple outages.

Updates will be shared across the councils social media using #EowynDL

Read the advice in full:

Storm Éowyn – Donegal County Council issues updated public safety advice ahead of Storm Éowyn

With a Status Red Wind Warning in place for Donegal from 07:00 Friday 24/01/2025 to 14:00 Friday 24/01/2025, the public are urged to exercise extreme caution as Storm Éowyn has the potential to be “one of the worst storms every recorded in Ireland”.

Storm Éowyn will bring gale to storm force southerly winds becoming westerly, bringing severe, damaging and extremely destructive gusts in excess of 130km/h with potential impacts of danger to life, extremely dangerous travelling conditions, unsafe working conditions, disruption and cancellations to transport, many fallen trees, significant and widespread power outages, impacts to communications networks, cancellation of events, structural damage, wave overtopping and coastal flooding in low-lying and exposed areas.

Public Safety Advice (Red Warning) – 07:00 Friday 24/01/2025 to 14:00 Friday 24/01/2025 “Gale to storm force southerly winds becoming westerly with extreme, damaging and destructive gusts in excess of 130km/h”

During the Red Level wind warnings, the public are advised to shelter in place and not to travel.
The forecasted winds have the capacity to bring severe, destructive and damaging winds which will constitute a risk to life and property.
High seas; the public are advised to stay away from coastal areas during this period. The Irish Coast Guard are appealing to people to “Stay Back, Stay High, Stay Dry”.
There is a potential for tidal flooding in coastal areas. In addition to this, the Storm Éowyn may also bring localised heavy showers, which in turn may lead to localised flooding.
The Electricity network is expected to be severely impacted, the public are advised to prepare for the arrival of the storm including ensuring their mobile phone is fully charged to enable communication.
ESB Networks is highlighting the dangers posed by fallen live wires and is advising the public and the emergency services to stay away from these fallen cables and to report such cases to it immediately. ESB Emergency Services can be contacted at 1800 372 999. The public can monitor www.PowerCheck.ie. In regards to power restoration times.
Uisce Éireann customers can check the website and social media channels for updates and to get in touch with any issues or concerns via their 24/7 customer care centre at 1800 278 278. The public can also sign up online to our free text alert system to get regular updates about their local supplies – see www.water.ie.”

A status Orange Wind Warning is also in place from 0:00 Friday 24/01/2025 to 16:00 Friday 24/01/2025 – “Gale force southerly winds becoming westerly will bring severe, damaging and destructive gusts of up to 130km/h widely, with even higher gusts for a time”

Public Safety Advice (Orange Warning)

Orange warnings; the public are advised to limit travel to essential in areas where an orange level warning is in place. Essential services operators will continue to operate services subject to advice from Met Éireann on prevailing local conditions.

A status Yellow Wind Warning will follow for Donegal which is valid from 16:00 Friday 24/01/2025 to 23:00 Friday 24/01/2025 “Strong to near gale force westerly winds with further damaging gusts” with the possible impacts of hazardous travelling conditions, damage to already weakened structures and fallen trees”

Homeowners are advised to take immediate action to secure trampolines, garden furniture, and other loose outdoor items ahead of the coming storm.

We request that businesses remove all ‘sandwich board’ and other standalone signage from public areas in advance of Storm Éowyn.

With high tides and storm surge predicted, the Donegal Town Pier Carpark will be closed from Midnight tonight until 7pm Friday 24th January.

The Harry Blaney Bridge will be closed during the period of the red and orange weather warnings with a possibility of an extended closure period.

Donegal County Council have pre-deployed sandbags in a number of high risk areas and further sandbags are ready to be deployed if required. Roads Service, Fire Service and Civil Defence crews are at a heightened state of readiness in the event of local responses being required during this storm event, however will only be deployed during the period of the red warning in instances with an immediate threat to life.

Donegal County Council’s Severe Weather Assessment Team are keeping the approaching weather pattern under review and will continue to monitor all local conditions as Storm Éowyn progresses.

Donegal County Council can be contacted during normal business hours (with extended hours if required) on 074 91 53900 and the Council’s normal out-of-hours emergency 074 91 72288 for our Road Service/Housing Department will also be in operation. For emergencies requiring the assistance of the Fire Service call 999 or 112.

The public are asked to keep up to date with the current weather warnings and in particular any change in the status warning for their area.

You can keep up to date on conditions in your area by signing up for free alerts to your phone by registering at www.mapalerter.com/donegal or by following Donegal County Council on Facebook or on X(Twitter)

In addition to our regular emergency contacts, Donegal County Council will also be monitoring #EowynDL on social media for local updates.

In addition to our regular emergency contacts, Donegal County Council will also be monitoring #EowynDL on social media and the public are encouraged to use this “hashtag” when posting local issues on Facebook or on X(Twitter)

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement