Thousands of homes remain without power this morning as Ireland wakes up to extensive damage following Storm Bram. 

At one point, 54,000 homes lacked power; while some coastal areas have suffered extensive flooding. 

As people leave their homes for work, authorities have urged them to take particular care as there may be fallen trees, power lines or other debris.

On Newstalk Breakfast, Southern Correspondent Jamie O’Hara said there had been especially “powerful gusts” in Cork. 

“The first thing and the most important thing this morning is there have been no injuries,” he said. 

“We're unfortunately used to hearing about accidents and incidents that happen from, you know, crashes, fallen trees and efforts to clear those trees.

“But as of this morning, I can see no reports of anyone getting hurt during the storm.” 

The Poolbeg Lighthouse. Picture by: Eamonn Farrell/© RollingNews.ie

ESB crews returned to work at first light this morning, having already helped reconnect tens of thousands of homes to power. 

“At its peak, there were 54,000 homes, farms and businesses without power,” Jamie continued. 

“Now, by 8 pm, that figure was down to 25,000 with Wexford, Wicklow, Dublin, Laois, Kilkenny, Offaly and Tipperary hit the worst.

“ESB networks are saying that some customers would be without power overnight, unfortunately. 

“ESB crews and contractors, they were deployed yesterday and they worked as late as they could last night.” 

Anyone without power can get an estimate of how long they will be without power by checking PowerCheck.ie

“Conditions here are much better than last January during that storm,” Jamie added. 

“So, it should be a much quicker job.” 

Clontarf where the sea came over the wall and flooded the Linear Park. Picture by: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie.

One village that particularly impacted is Blackrock, County Louth, where shops and homes along the sea front have been flooded. 

Local businessman Conor Hughes said it took some time for locals to realise how bad the flooding would be. 

“We were all kind of enjoying it - somewhat naively, to be honest,” he said. 

“And then all of a sudden it became serious. 

“Everybody was photographing us and pulling up under the waves to take photographs.

“And then it became serious; you could see the Main Street became flooded.” 

Sandbagging has prevented some of the damage but for many businesses, it will be some time before they can re-open.

Main image: Waves coimg over the wall in front of cars at Sandymount as Storm Bram arrives in Ireland. Picture by: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie