Fermanagh feels the impact of three storms in one week

This was the third storm to strike the county over the past week, following on from high winds that were courtesy of Storm Dudley, last Wednesday, while on Friday Storm Eunice brought snow, sleet and hail.

The town of Lisnaskea blanketed in snow.

The Met Office issued three separate yellow weather warnings for the storms.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter, a resident of the Sligo Road area of Enniskillen explained how a power cut caused by the storm left them without electricity for 20 hours, from around 2am on Monday morning until 11pm that night.

“I did not think there was going to be any major implications, considering I woke up and there were no trees down, but the major issue came when I went to turn on my lights and I was unable to plug in my straighteners.

“I was unable to get ready for work in the normal way,” said the Enniskillen resident, who wished to remain anonymous.

“We went about our business throughout the day, because when it is light [outside], you can deal without the electric. But when it came to night time, it was a different story.

“We were checking the NIE website and seeing cuts that were reported much later in the day getting fixed much quicker than ours was.

“We were knocked out for about 20 hours, so obviously you have the knock-on impact that you have no heating, no hot water because it’s all run by the electric and we couldn’t get anything from the fridge because all the food went off,” she said.

A large ash tree down near Ballycassidy. Photo: John McVitty.

Hundreds of other residents across the district were impacted by power cuts on Monday morning, including those who live in the Boa Island Road area, the Ballinamallard area, the Sligo Road area of Enniskillen, the Fivemiletown area, areas of Ederney, the Kesh area, the Dromore area and Newtownbutler.

A spokesperson for NIE Networks said: “[Our] engineers worked tirelessly in the difficult conditions to restore power to all customers as quickly as possible. Despite the challenging conditions, many customers had power restored within a few hours and all customers had power restored the same day.”

Along with power cuts, there were a number of reports of fallen trees across the district. On Sunday and Monday, the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) advised motorists of road closures as a result of fallen trees and flooding.

Boho, not for the first time, was severely affected by the flooding.

Flooding in Boho.

The Makenny Road, Ballinamallard was closed due to flood water whilst the Lough Yoan Road, Enniskillen was blocked by a fallen tree.

Elsewhere in Enniskillen, the Monalla Road, Tullyavey Road and Killadeas Road were closed for a period of time. In the Ederney area, the Edenamolehill Road and Manoo Road were closed while the DfI dealt with fallen trees.

Fermanagh residents also highlighted traffic disruption due to fallen trees. A local farmer assisted with the removal of a fallen tree at the Makenny Road, entering Ballinamallard, on Sunday afternoon.

Also in the Ballinamallard area, the Sheridan Road was blocked due to a fallen tree, with another down on the Kilskeery Road.

In other parts of the district, a local reported that the Belcoo Road from Garrison to Belcoo was blocked, advising fellow road users to find alternative routes.

Trees down in Necarne. Photo: Joe Mahon

Whilst out walking his dog, Bongo, on Monday morning, Irvinestown hotelier Joe Mahon took photos of a number of trees down in Necarne forest.

Accompanying the high winds, booming thunder and flashes of lightning were witnessed on Sunday afternoon. There was also heavy rainfall throughout the weekend, which resulted in significant flooding in Boho.

As predicted by the Met Office, the high winds of Storm Franklin died down on Monday afternoon, but the damage it caused was felt long after, with many households still without electricity well into Monday evening.

A local farmer assists with the removal of a tree on the Makenny Road, Ballinamallard.