Many homes and businesses were left without broadband or electricity following the lightning strikes in the early hours of Monday.
Some residents have had no internet service since the storm and one told the Manx Independent that they were told they’d have to wait at least five more days before repairs are completed on the affected areas.
Manx Telecom says that about 500 customers had lost their internet connection.
‘We can’t pay our staff and payday is tomorrow,’ he told the Manx Independent as we went to press yesterday.
‘I’m going to have to go to the bank and get cash out tomorrow to pay everybody in cash because that’s the only way I can do it.’
Manx Telecom apologised for the delay in responding to callouts from the public, stating that ‘engineers are investigating some areas where there may be remaining issues’.
Mrs Kinley has tried to contact the support team at Manx Telecom to resolve the issues she has been experiencing but has not received the help she needed.
‘When you call you get a caseload, and then it rings out and you get cut off because it rings too long and no one answers the phone.
‘I understand that as a business that Manx Telecom are trying their best to sort everything out, but I think five days is a bit too long.’
Manx Telecom has temporarily fitted a wireless router so the business can use the card machines which is a crucial part of their day to day running of the business.
‘I’ve sent quite a lot of emails just to try and get this sorted. Obviously we can’t have people leaving… so obviously we needed to sort the problem out before it escalated.’
Alongside the disruption to broadband supply, there have been multiple reports of damaged houses across Douglas, with four houses in Hillside Avenue and one property in Pinehurst Glen being among them. The damages include a hole in the roof of one property, slates cracked and scattered to other properties.
There were also lightning strikes on properties in Foxdale Road, Garth, and Port Soderick.
Work has already begun on repairing the properties and some people have been moved to other properties while their homes are made habitable again.
With the electrical supply of some parts of Douglas also hit, a number of locals have been left without power and no indication from Manx Utilities when it will be restored.
power
Alison Cottier of the authority said: ‘Local issues have to be addressed before Manx Utilities can restore power.’
A Manx Telecom spokesman said: ‘Following the electrical storm early on Monday morning, Manx Telecom is continuing to help customers whose phone and broadband lines were impacted by lightning damage.
‘Manx Telecom estimates that up to 500 customers were affected and staff have been working to restore services as quickly as possible.
‘Anyone who has not yet reported a problem is encouraged to do so via social media, calling 624624 (please be patient as lines are busy), by using an online form at www.manxtelecom.com/about/contact-us or through the Manx Telecom store.
‘Staff will initially try to diagnose issues remotely to establish the problem – for example, a faulty router, router port or home socket.
‘If the problem cannot be resolved, a visit by an engineer will be arranged.
‘Manx Telecom is doing its utmost to restore services as quickly as possible and extra staff are working over the weekend.
‘All available engineers have been assigned to help affected customers and additional customer services staff are answering calls and troubleshooting customer issues.’