Storm Darragh Causes Widespread Disruption

Infrastructure Minister John O'Dowd has thanked emergency services and utility workers for their efforts in responding to the impact of Storm Darragh.

The storm, which brought strong winds and heavy rain over the weekend, caused widespread disruption across Northern Ireland. Over 1,000 road incidents were reported, mainly due to fallen trees and branches. At the peak of the storm, more than 48,000 homes were without power.

The Minister expressed his gratitude to those who worked tirelessly to restore essential services and minimise the impact of the storm.

Infrastructure Minister John O'Dowd said: "This is the third named storm of the season to fall across a weekend and I want to thank the multi-agency staff who have once again risen to the challenge and have worked together very effectively to keep the public safe. With over 1300 incidents across the road network during the storm and 48,000 homes without power at its peak, this has been a difficult period. "When those who could were staying indoors, teams from my department were outside working in the atrocious weather conditions to keep people safe. Infrastructure staff were out on the ground all weekend monitoring river levels and removing accumulated material as well as clearing debris and trees off the roads to get all major routes open. I want to thank and pay tribute to them for doing so.

"I also want to commend all of the emergency services who have been to the forefront of the weekend's operation keeping people safe in very difficult conditions. Thank you also to the Community Resilience Groups who were kept up to date with advance notice of severe weather warnings so that they were prepared and ready to respond in their communities. We will continue to work with other agencies as the clear up continues."

Road users are advised to remain cautious and vigilant – whilst obstructions may be cleared debris may remain and there is still the potential for further branches to fall given some trees will be weakened by the storm impacts. Latest traffic information can be found at: Trafficwatchni. If you do spot obstructions on the roads please help us by reporting this at Report an obstruction on a road or street | nidirect or call the 24-hour number on 0300 200 7899.

NIE Networks is reminding the public to stay clear of any damaged electricity equipment and report it immediately to the Customer Helpline on 03457 643 643. Members of the public should never approach a broken pole or electricity line.