27,000 households and businesses remain without electricity this morning, across the region trees have been uprooted, roads have been flooded and roads are littered with debris -as storm Eleanor hit coastal counties yesterday evening.
Gardai across the region are advising road users to give themselves extra time for journeys this morning in the wake of the storm.
A status orange wind warning is currently in place for counties Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Clare, Cork, Kerry and Limerick until 2pm this afternoon.
An orange warning concerns weather events which have the capacity to impact significantly on people in the affected areas.
Met Éireann has also issued a status yellow wind warning for Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan, Roscommon, Tipperary and Waterford until 2pm today. Wind speeds in these areas could reach up to 65km/h, with gusts of up to 110km/h.
Thousands of homes in county Mayo were without electricity yesterday evening as Storm Eleanor raged.
The town of Westport lost power at about 5.40pm, as did the nearby coastal centres of Louisburgh and Newport.Residents of Westport reported a huge squall accompanied by violent gusts of wind just before the blackout. “
Many roads across Mayo were littered with trees, branches and broken hedge foliage uprooted by the storm.
Seamus Murphy, Mayo chief fire officer, said his crews had been extraordinarily busy dealing with reports of fallen trees and flooding.However, he outlined, no major emergency had been reported.
High tide went by between 5 and 6am this morning without any dramatic flooding in either Ballina or Westport.
Martin Keating, Director of Services with Mayo county council told Midwest News this morning that the local authority had dealt with any obstacles impacting on the main routes, and said their crews were now responding to trees down along minor roads.
He advised everyone to take care as the wind and flood warnings remain in place today.
Storm force winds and a high tide led to several roads in Galway city and Salthill being closed just as workers were trying to make their way home yesterday evening.
Coastal roads throughout the county were also impacted, with motorists encountering flooded roads in areas such as Oranmore, Maree and Clarinbridge.
Falling trees and debris on roads exacerbated the problem in Moycullen, Headford, Ballyglunin and Lackagh, as communities throughout Co Galway felt the full force of the storm.
Both gardaí and Galway City Council crews moved to close the promenade in Salthill, while car owners had been urged from early morning to move their vehicles from car parks that were likely to flood.
But the speed with which flash floods enveloped areas of the city, especially in the Docks area, still caught people by surprise.
The floodwaters quickly moved through the Spanish Arch, Quay Street, Merchant’s Road and Dominick Street, preventing pedestrians from getting home. Some homes on Fr Griffin Road in the city were also affected.