KILKEEL Leisure Centre remained open on Monday as a community assistance facility as parts of the district began to recover from the damage caused by Storm Darragh over the weekend.
The building was one of seven across the province, and the only one in the area, opened to cater for residents who were still without power.
At the peak of the storm, the province was exposed to gusts of up to 80mph overnight, with a Met Office amber warning for wind – with some of the strongest gusts recorded locally, at Killowen, measuring 71mph.
NIE confirmed that an estimated 95,000 customers lost power due to “sustained high winds”, with Storm Darragh also bringing down trees, causing localised flooding and leading to the cancellation of dozens of sporting and a number of festive events.
Across the district, in areas with known flooding hotspots, residents and business owners remained on alert, but fortunately, the low tide timings meant that flood waters and swollen rivers were able to drain, taking pressure off the storm drain infrastructure.
In Newcastle, localised flooding was reported along King Street, as well as in the Mourne View, Mourne Green, Bernagh Green, Burren Park, Bryansford Road and Burrendale Park Road, as well as along both the Dundrum and Castlewellan roads.
Elsewhere, in Mourne the Head Road was closed between the Oldtown Road and Ballyveaghmore Road due to a number of fallen trees affecting overhead power cables, whilst the River Walk in Kilkeel was closed to facilitate the removal of fallen trees.
Cllr Glyn Hanna told the Mourne Observer he was taken aback by the strength of the wind during the storm.
“In my whole time living in this area I have never seen as many dry-stone walls blown over,” he said.
“It was just unbelievable.”
In the lead-up to the storm’s arrival, the district council confirmed the closure of its recycling centres, public toilets and the gates to Newcastle and Kilkeel harbours. In addition, its parks and trails, including those in Castlewellan, Warrenpoint and Kilbroney, were closed to the public.
