Storm Lorenzo has raged through Ireland, bringing with it plenty of rain and gale force winds.

While most of the country got off lightly as it wasn’t as strong as predicted, some were without power and have experienced damage to their homes.

One woman has told of the devastation caused by flooding and has left everything “a total mess”.

Sheena Culloo from New Row in Donegal Town woke up in a panic at 6am on Friday when floodwaters rushed into her home after heavy downpours hit the region. She said: “The water was coming in fast, back and front. It reached up to two inches by the time it stopped.”

Sheena Culloo outside her Clarden Row home in Donegal town with some of the furniture and equipment destroyed by the flooding. (North West Newspix)
Clareden Drive and Drumlonagher, in Donegal Town

As fire services came to assist locals, the rush was on for Sheena to move her furniture upstairs and save pieces from irreparable damage.

Her 21-year-old son, who has cerebral palsy, has an adapted bedroom and wetroom downstairs.

As the floods came in, Sheena had to bring his bedding, furniture and computer upstairs as well.

She continued: “My son asked his friends to help and they landed in force.

“They did a great job and only for them and the amount of helping hands we had we were able to get the important things moved. It’s total devastation. Everything is a mess. It’s very hard to think about tomorrow or the next day. When the tide returns tonight or another storm comes what are we going to do?”

Laurence McHugh from New Row Signs And Graphics made preparations for the storm on Thursday night, but he didn’t expect conditions to be so bad.

He said: “We had about six to eight inches of water this morning.

“It went through all the floors and some stock.

“Everything had to be lifted and taken away, we had to take out the floors and it’s all in the skip now to be dumped.”

Minister of State for the Office of Public Works and Flood Relief Kevin “Boxer” Moran has been strongly criticised in the wake of the flooding which struck Donegal Town.

Sean Bonner clearing out the wate from the Alzhemiers Society charity show in Donegal Town. (North West Newspix)

Local County Councillor Michael Naughton said he was upset for the families impacted

He said: “Three years ago we took Kevin “Boxer” Moran down here, he shook our hands and he told us that he was going to solve this problem.

“Here we are again with flooded homes.”

As the Status Yellow warnings ended yesterday afternoon, Ireland breathed a sigh of relief. Met Eireann charts showed top winds of 87kmh in Galway, with gusts of up to 107kmh recorded.

Elsewhere in the country, winds stayed between 30kmh to 45kmh, with Cork and Donegal being
the other counties affected by high winds.

Charts also show up to 100mm of rain was dumped on areas of Donegal, 50mm on the western coast and 25mm in much of the country.

Most of Leinster and Munster escaped heavy rain with an average of just 10mm falling during Wednesday and Thursday. There were power outages in parts of the country with multiple faults reported by ESB in Mayo, Kerry, Clare, Limerick, Dublin, Roscommon, Longford and Carlow on Friday.

Print shop owner Laurence McHugh removes the destroyed flooring from his shop in Donegal Town. (North West Newspix)

An ESB spokesman said: “The counties most affected include Longford, Mayo and Galway.

“ESB Networks teams restored supply to more than 12,000 families overnight where it was safe to do so.

“Our crews were dispatched to the affected areas at first light, making the electricity network safe, assessing the damage, and restoring power as quickly and effectively as possible.”

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