Man dies after tree falls on his car in Co Donegal during Storm Eowyn
The incident happened at around 5.30am on Friday.
A man has died after a tree fell on his car in Co Donegal during Storm Eowyn, police confirmed, as thousands remained without power and water after record-breaking winds.
Around a million homes, farms and businesses in the Republic and Northern Ireland were left without power after dramatic gusts swept across the island on Friday.
A wind speed of 183kmh (114mph) was recorded in Ireland, the fastest since records began according to Irish forecaster Met Eireann.
Public transport services were halted and schools and creches were closed ahead of the nationwide red level wind warning.
ESB Networks in Ireland and NIE Networks said they expect significant further outages as Storm Eowyn continued to batter parts of the island, with 725,000 customers affected in the Republic and 283,000 in Northern Ireland at its peak.
The ESB said power had been restored to 143,000 customers by Friday evening.
Some homes and businesses are expected to be without power for up to a week because of an unprecedented number of power cuts.
Utility company Uisce Eireann said around 138,000 people across the country had no water on Friday evening, and a further 750,000 people’s supplies were at risk.
“The number of people without water is likely to increase as the widespread power outages at treatment plants and pumping stations continue to impact on supplies,” it said.
A total of 235 inbound and outbound flights were cancelled at Dublin Airport, large trees fell across roads and through walls, while some structures, including a multi million-euro indoor playing facility in Co Mayo, were severely damaged during the storm.
Yellow wind and snow-ice warnings were in place for Co Donegal until 11pm on Friday and 9am on Saturday respectively.
Earlier on Friday, emergency services were alerted at 5.30am that a tree had fallen on a car while the driver was inside.
The driver of the car died and his body remained at the scene in Feddyglass in Raphoe, Co Donegal on Friday night.
Gardai were working with the local authority and third party contractors to facilitate the removal of the man’s body.
The N14 road was closed while forensic collision investigators and divisional scenes of crime carried out an investigation at the scene.
