Lightning strike causes serious water outage in Mount Temple

Residents in Mount Temple are currently experiencing serious water supply disruption after a lightning strike damaged water pumps in the area yesterday.

And, unfortunately, the outage looks likely to last well into next week.

At the moment Tuesday next (August 10) at 1pm is the expected completion time for the repair work, according to Irish Water.

Local councillor Tom Farrell said water pumps in Creeve, Mount Temple, were hit by lightning and some of the pumps were badly damaged.

"The pumps were burned out. They were hit by lightning and were frizzled. It was dangerous," he said.

"We were hoping that it could be fixed by tomorrow, but I'm now hearing that it could be Tuesday before it's back because the parts that are (damaged) are things that normally wouldn't go."

The exact number of residents affected by the outage is not known, but it's believed that somewhere between 30 and 40 houses are being impacted by it.

In a statement this evening, Irish Water described the problem as "a power supply issue in Mount Temple and surrounding areas" and said its crews were "working as quickly and as safely as possible" to restore supply to customers.

An alternative water supply is being provided by water tankers at Mount Temple Community Centre and at the top of the hill near the soccer pitch for the duration of the outage.

Irish Water said customers should use their own containers when taking water from the tankers and to boil the water before consumption as a precautionary measure.

"We understand the inconvenience unplanned outages can have on customers and we appreciate your patience as we work to return the water supply to homes and businesses," commented John Gavin of Irish Water.