Residents facing fourth day without heat
“We’re in dire trouble,” 69-year-old John Lane said. John lives in one of 12 bungalows in a local authority estate on Summer Hill, on the outskirts of Mallow in north Cork.
The freezing conditions have disrupted water supply to the estate every day since Christmas Day. But householders have been without water – and gas-fired central heating – for the last three days.
Most of the residents are over 60 and many have underlying health conditions.
Many have been wearing heavy coats, hats and scarves inside their homes and others are huddling around electric fires.
John said conditions are now becoming unbearable. “We need help. But everybody that should be able to fix this seems to be paralysed,” he said.
“It’s been suggested to us that we put newspapers between our blankets to keep us warm. But that’s crazy. It’s backwards we seem to be going. In America, they have really harsh weather and they can cope with it. But here they can’t seem to fix it. Local government seems to be paralysed. People’s health is at risk if we go another night without heating.”
His neighbour, Mary Condon, 59, is in good health but she said other neighbours are struggling.
“We’re just about surviving but the house is very cold in the morning,” she said.
“We’d like the heat back. It’s every expensive to keep my electric heating running all the time.
“I thought the council could have done something by now.”
The council has supplied residents with water for sanitary purposes but a number of water supply pipes have frozen or cracked affecting water supply to various parts of the town, particularly the higher parts. Cllr Noel O’Connor said council engineers are facing a battle to maintain continuous supply in the face of the unprecedented cold snap.
He said the Summer Hill situation is serious and he urged relatives and neighbours of all elderly people to check on them during the cold weather.
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