Mid-Ulster avoids the worst of New Year gales
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
MID-ULSTER may have managed to avoid the worst of the new year gales when the wind reached speeds of up to 80mph but the storm still managed to leave a trail of destruction in its wake.
The Aughnacloy/Killyliss Road junction near Dungannon was closed for a period of time on Tuesday morning when a tree was uprooted causing traffic to be re-routed in the area.
And in Dungannon town centre advertising hoarding at the corner of Scotch Street and Barrack Street was blown down.
Luckily the hoarding fell in the direction of waste ground avoiding the main street frontage and the possibility of causing injury to passers by.
The Met office had issued an 'amber' weather warning and police were advising motorists to take extreme care on all roads the previous Monday when many people were off for the New Year holiday.
NIE had drafted in additional contractors and 40 overhead lines staff from parent company ESB to bolster hundreds of its own staff dealing with power cuts.
The stormy weather also caused delays at both Belfast City and International Airports which disrupted some people's travel plans in and out of the Province.
While the winds were near-hurricane in strength temperatures remained above the average for this time of year.
According to weather experts the stormy weather didn't last because the deep depression was moving eastwards.
Altogether around 35,000 people suffered power cuts during the recent severe weather according to the official figures issued by Northern Ireland Electricity, the network company.
A total of 800 customers were affected in the Dungannon area, including Moneymore and Aughnacloy and there were also a number of homes affected in the Draperstown area.
In the Omagh district, which includes Strabane and Clougher, a total of 2,600 customers had their power supply affected.
Roy Coulter, Duty Incident Manager at Northern Ireland Electricity said that all but a handful of customers had power restored by lunch-time last Wednesday.
“We worked closely with the Met Office to prepare for this event which saw gusts of over 80 miles per hour," said Mr Coulter. "We had teams in place early on Tuesday morning and so were able to respond quickly when the storm, hit."
NIE said the company's incident centres across Northern Ireland had been open from 6,30am last Tuesday morning.
By Tuesday afternoon the worst of the winds appeared to have given way to heavy rain showers and hail.
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