A man in his 60s died after his car collided with a tree and another car on Sunday evening during Storm Isha in Limavady, as another less intense storm is forecast for tomorrow.
He was the driver of a Vauxhall Vivaro van that was involved in a collision with a fallen tree and another vehicle at around 9.45pm on Sunday 21 January.
The male driver of the other van involved, a Citreon Berlingo, was taken to hospital for treatment.
Northern Ireland Ambulance Service were called to the Broad Road area and said after an assessment and initial treatment at the scene, two patients were taken to Altnagelvin Hospital.
The road has now been reopened. Police are appealing for witnesses to the accident.
It comes after an 84-year-old man died after his car crashed into a tree in central Scotland on Sunday night.
East Derry MLA Claire Sugden said this was a “devastating result of last night’s storm”.
“My condolences go out to his family and friends,” she added.
Thousands of homes lost power and airport operations were disrupted as Storm Isha unleashed “devastating” winds across the island of Ireland and across the UK. NIE announced that as of 5pm today, around several thousand customers were still without power due to last night’s strong winds.
NIE is working with local councils to provide people without electricity access to showers, hot drinks and places to charge their electronic devices at Lisburn Leisureplex, Brownlow Hub Craigavon and Fermanagh Lakeland Forum at 6pm. The community center will be open from 9 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Translink reported “significant chain delays and service disruptions across all routes today”, with Sandy Lane on the outskirts of Lisburn closed to traffic due to obstructions caused by fallen trees.
Meanwhile, the next storm of the season has been named by forecaster Met Eireann. Storm Jocelyn is expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain tomorrow into Wednesday.
Wind gusts of more than 130mph were recorded overnight at Magilligan on Derry Island. The Met Office said Storm Isha’s highest wind speed on record was 99mph at Brisleywood, Northumberland, with gusts of 90mph at Capel Curig in Snowdonia on Sunday.
The Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) network announced this morning that 40,000 customers were without power and 53,000 were left without power at the height of the storm. The worst affected areas are Dungannon, Downpatrick, Enniskillen, Newry and Omagh.
The ESB said 155,000 homes and businesses in the Republic of Ireland were without power as of 12:35pm, down from a peak of 230,000, with areas in the north-west hardest hit. .
A woman from Northern Ireland said Storm Isha caused “the worst damage I have seen in this area” after strong winds last night cut down a row of five trees in front of her house.
Lisa Wilton, 47, from County Down, shared a video of the fallen tree to did.
Ms. Wilton, a user researcher in software design, told Penn State: I’m glad no one was hurt and my house and car were safe.
“I can’t go anywhere because I can’t get my car out at all. Luckily I’m working from home, but it’s definitely going to require a fair amount of chainsaw work outside.”
She added: “Last night I was looking outside and noticed a gap in the tree line. I went with a torch to see if a tree was missing, but all five trees in a row were missing. I couldn’t believe it was gone.”
Authorities across the island reported fallen trees on roads and urged people not to try to move the trees as they could become tangled with power lines.
The PSNI said officers responded to around 600 storm-related calls between 3.30pm yesterday and 2am today.
Dublin Airport has announced that 29 flights to and from Dublin have been canceled today due to delays caused by Storm Isha, although flights from today’s first wave continued “unrestricted” as winds subsided.
TrafficWatchNI said more than 1,000 obstructions had been reported across Northern Ireland’s road network since Sunday afternoon.
Nettlefield Primary School in Radnor Street, Belfast, is closed today due to severe weather conditions caused by Storm Isha.
The storm also damaged and cut down many trees in Northern Ireland, made famous by the Game of Thrones series.
Work is underway to clear the site at Dark Hedges in County Antrim.
This tree tunnel became famous after being featured in the HBO fantasy series, and now attracts tourists from all over the world. Marvin Storey, chairman of the Dark Hedges Conservation Trust, said:
“People have been out since dawn to clear the road. There are many other trees in the area.
“This is another blow to Dark Hedges.
“In fact, one of the trees that was healthy fell down. It’s very sad.”
A status yellow wind warning is in place for counties Donegal, Galway, Mayo, Clare, Leitrim and Sligo until 7pm, with a further status yellow wind warning for the entire island from tomorrow until Wednesday.
Very strong winds are expected in these areas, causing large waves along the coast, making driving difficult and potentially loosening and displacing objects.
A yellow wind warning was lifted for Northern Ireland at midday today.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said strong winds from Storm Isha could cause “some disruption” to travel and public works.
Tomorrow’s Storm Jocelyn is expected to bring additional risks to coastal areas, including large waves, difficult driving conditions, downed trees, damaged power lines, and possible damage to already weakened structures.
A status orange alert is in place for Galway and County Mayo from 6pm tomorrow until midnight, and for County Donegal from 6pm tomorrow until 2am Wednesday.
Status All other counties will be under an Amber Alert from tomorrow afternoon until early Wednesday morning.
Northern Ireland is under a yellow wind warning for counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry, with strong winds expected from 4pm tomorrow until midday on Wednesday.
One person was hit by falling debris after scaffolding gave way in Belfast yesterday. They were treated by emergency services at the scene.
Chief Superintendent Davey Beck said a number of roads across Northern Ireland remained impassable this morning.
He said in a statement: “Between 3:30pm on Sunday, January 21st and 2am on Monday, January 22nd, officers responded to more than 1,300 calls from the public, approximately 600 of which were related to the storm. was.
“As wind speeds remain high throughout Monday, there remains a risk of large debris falling onto the road network.
“Multiple agencies continue to deal with the aftermath and recovery of Storm Isha, and we thank the public for their continued patience and understanding.”
Two people died in separate traffic accidents in the Republic. A woman has died in a road crash in County Louth in the early hours of this morning. The van the woman was traveling in crashed into a Carnarogue tree shortly before 2am. A man in his 40s died at the scene after the car he was driving crashed onto State Highway 17 in Lisduff, Claremorris, Co. Mayo last night.
Bus and rail operator Translink has issued a notice warning of delays and disruptions due to bad weather on the Portadown, Larne, Portrush and Derry lines.
The Met Office yesterday warned that tornadoes were possible in the west of England, after research institute Toro announced that Ireland, Northern Ireland, parts of Scotland and northern England were in a “tornado warning zone”.
Yesterday morning, National Emergency Coordination Council chairman Paul Locke said the storm was a “particularly severe” storm in an “extraordinary” storm season.
“We don’t want anyone to die because of this storm,” he told RTE radio.
Mr Locke urged all road users to avoid coastal areas and to be aware of dangerous conditions such as debris and avoid touching downed power lines while the Met Alien Warning is in place.
⚠️Status Red – Wind warning for Galway, Mayo and Donegal
• Hazardous coastal conditions with high waves • Hazardous travel conditions • Risk of large scale and widespread power outages
Click here for details ⬇️ https://t.co/Xg3aMJlyuS pic.twitter.com/HS92EYcUs0
— MetEireann (@MetEireann) January 21, 2024
Alien Buses suspended its services between towns, cities and cities in County Mayo and Galway from 4pm on Sunday.
The metal clock tower above 13 on the Green Bar in Eyre Square, Galway City, fell onto the path below as a Status Red warning came into effect at 5pm.
Other counties have an orange wind warning in effect from 4 or 5 p.m. Sunday until 2 or 3 a.m. today, warning of large coastal waves, very difficult driving conditions, downed trees and damaged power lines. A threat was posed.
This alert will be downgraded to an amber alert until 4am Monday, when all Met Alien Alerts will be lifted.
A marine warning was also issued, with sea conditions becoming rough and the coast guard advising people to be careful of large waves.
According to the ESB, more than 170,000 homes, farms and businesses were without power as of 8:35pm yesterday.
The site was made safe after strong winds lifted the shed six feet over the wall.
Firefighters from Tara Street Fire Station were called to the incident off Kevin Street. pic.twitter.com/Pq6I8O22Gc
— Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) January 21, 2024
An amber weather warning was in place for all counties in Northern Ireland from 6pm on Sunday to 6am on Monday, with “very strong winds” expected.
The Ministry of Infrastructure said that despite emergency response plans, civil servant strike action could disrupt the response to accidents such as road debris and flooding.
