Storm Isha wreaks devastation across Northern Ireland killing man and cutting off power

Storm Isha wreaked havoc across Northern Ireland with winds up to 81mph recorded, leaving one man dead after a crash and thousands without power.

It was the worst storm in a decade.

There was widespread disruption with emergency crews working through Monday to clear roads and restore power. It comes as another storm, Jocelyn, is to hit on Tuesday afternoon at around 4pm. Although it is not expected to be as severe as Isha.

A man in his 60s was killed in a crash involving two vans and a fallen tree in Limavady, Co Londonderry, on Sunday night, police said.

The man who died was driving a Vauxhall Vivaro van in Broad Road at around 9.45pm on Sunday.

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough councillor Ashleen Schenning said the community was in shock after the crash in Limavady. “This has devastated the town,” said the SDLP representative. “To wake up to this news this morning – it has just left the town in shock and devastation.”

Northern Ireland Electricity Networks said around 53,000 customers were without power due to the storm. By early evening Monday work was still underway to around 17,000.

NIE described the impact as "severe and widespread".

In the Republic two people were also killed in separate incidents. However, gardai have not said whether the storm conditions were the main contributory factor in those crashes.

A man in his 40s died in a single-vehicle crash in Claremorris, Co Mayo at about 6.15pm on Sunday when a status red alert was in place, and while a woman in her 20s, who was a passenger in a van, died after it hit a tree in Carnalogue, Co Louth at 1.50am on Monday.

The ESB in Ireland said 230,000 homes and businesses were without power at its peak, with the worst-hit areas in the north west.

A number of trees made famous by the TV series Game Of Thrones were damaged and felled by the storm in Co Antrim. Work was carried out on Monday to clear up at the Dark Hedges site.

The tunnel of trees became famous when it was featured in the HBO fantasy series and now attracts significant numbers of tourists from around the world. Dublin Airport said winds had eased and flights on Monday continued “without restrictions”, but because of delays caused by Storm Isha, 29 flights in and out of Dublin had been cancelled on Monday. There was disruption for hundreds of passengers due to land at airports on the island on Sunday, with several flights that were unable to touch down being rerouted to Great Britain and even continental Europe. The Road Safety Authority of Ireland advised all road users to be aware of the dangers after the storm passed as there may be hazardous conditions such as flooded roads and downed pylons, lines, trees and other debris on roads. A status yellow wind warning is in place for counties Donegal, Galway, Mayo, Clare, Leitrim and Sligo until 7pm, and further status yellow wind warnings are in place for the entire island on Tuesday and into Wednesday. Very strong winds are expected in these areas, which can lead to large coastal waves, difficult travelling conditions and objects becoming loose and displaced.

On Tuesday, Storm Jocelyn will bring further risk of large waves along coastal areas, difficult travelling conditions, fallen trees, damage to power lines, and possible damage to already weakened structures. Met Eireann status orange warnings will be in place on Tuesday from 6pm until midnight for Galway and Mayo, and from 6pm on Tuesday until 2am on Wednesday for Donegal. Status yellow warnings are in place for all other counties in Ireland from Tuesday afternoon until the early hours of Wednesday. In Northern Ireland, yellow wind warnings will be in place for counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone, and Derry, with strong winds expected from 4pm on Tuesday until noon on Wednesday.

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