DUBLIN, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Massive power cuts were reported in Ireland as an unprecedented snowstorm continued to hit the country for the third straight day, said local officials on Friday.
Officials with Electricity Supply Board (ESB), the largest electricity supplier in Ireland, said that reports about power outages started coming in the wee hours of Friday and the number of homes and businesses which suffered power outage reached a maximum of 117,000 at about 1:30 a.m. Friday morning.
Most of the cases were reported in the east and south of the country, which have been hardest hit by the snowstorm while some took place in the northwest county of Donegal and some other counties, said ESB officials.
Over 350 faults have been identified in different places, they said, adding that the company crews have been trying hard to fix these problems throughout the day.
By Friday evening, power has been restored to most of the affectees while over 34,000 homes and businesses are still out of power, they said.
It is unlikely to resume the supply of power for all the affected customers on Friday due to the deteriorating weather conditions in the country, they added.
Water supply problems also occurred in some parts of the country on the third successive day of heavy snowfalls. Local authorities have advised people to store extra water at home and avoid letting their running water unclosed in case of blockage because of the freezing temperatures.
The first serious injury related to the snowstorm was reported on Friday when a 19-year-old man was critically wounded by the neck when he fell down from a low wall while standing on it for taking the pictures of the snow in the country's southern city of Cork. The man is said to remain in critical condition.
So far no snowstorm-related deaths have been reported in the country.
Met Eireann, the meteorological department of the Irish government, on Friday afternoon extended the red weather warning for the east, south and midwest of the country till 9:00 a.m. Saturday. Originally they expected the worst part of the snowstorm would be over by 6:00 p.m. Friday.
Officials with Met Eireann predicted that the snowstorm will further move to the north and northwest of the country on Friday night and the snow may turn into sleet and rain in the east and south of the country over the weekend, which will make traveling on the roads even more difficult and dangerous.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Friday that the government is monitoring the situation on an hourly basis and the emergency crews are working round the clock with a focus on transport infrastructure.
He said over 200 snow ploughs were out to clear the roads on Friday.
It is reported that a total of 24,000 km of roads in the country have been gritted and 6,000 tons of salt have been spread on primary roads since the start of the snowstorm.
The on-going snowstorm began in the wee hours of Wednesday morning and is reported to be the worst of its kind in the country since 1982.
