74,000 homes, schools, and businesses still without power in the wake of Storm Éowyn

Workers clearing a fallen tree as ESB Networks continue to reconnect homes and businesses.  across the country in the wake of Storm Éowyn.

More than 74,000 homes, schools, and businesses remain without supply while around 800 have no water and about 5% of mobile phone users are still impacted by Storm Éowyn.

As well as the work of more than 2,300 ESB Networks crews, power and water plants restoration has been made possible thanks to technicians and a large number of extra generators flown in from aboard.

Local authorities are now co-ordinating a local level humanitarian assistance response to the people still significantly impacted by the storm.

Local Co-ordination Groups are now in place in 17 local authority areas.

A spokesperson for the National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG) said: “A key focus is on ensuring the welfare of vulnerable or isolated people.

A number of organisations including Uisce Éireann, ESB Networks, An Post, An Garda Síochána, HSE and Local Link are checking in on vulnerable people and any concerns will be raised through the Local Co-ordination Group for follow up. 

They said there are 380 Emergency Response Hubs established, including community led hubs with local authority financial and administrative supports.

Emergency Response Hubs are assisting people with basic needs such as water, hot food, phone charging, broadband access and shower facilities.

Starting from a peak of 768,000 homes and businesses that lost power, ESB Networks had its work cut out for itself and its 2,300 crews.

The operation to restore back power was initially hampered due to continued high winds and some very damaged terrain.

Caravan Park Owner Miko McCormack surveying the damage done at Fanore Co Clare after Storm Éowyn. Picture: Eamon Ward

Despite the challenges they faced, crews managed to restore power to 366,000 homes and businesses by the end of Saturday, and a further 124,000 homes by the end of Sunday.

Such was the scale of the task that calls went out for help from abroad.

The first to arrive on Monday were from the UK, during which another 74,000 had their power restored, bringing to 564,000 the total homes and businesses that had power restored.

But there were, at that time, another 214,000 remaining without power, of which around 36,000 had theirs restored by end of the day.

The reduction in homes and businesses being restored had more to do with the fact that they were in hard-to-access and remote rural areas.

By Tuesday, crews from Austria had arrived and were up and running by the evening, while crews that had arrived from Finland later in the day, were up and running by Wednesday.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin speaking to the media outside St Brigid's GAA Club in Co Roscommon on Tuesday when he rejected claims that the Government delayed requesting help from the EU. Picture: Cate McCurry/PA

The new international crews were set to work in counties Cavan, Monaghan, Longford, Roscommon, Mayo, Galway, Sligo and Donegal.

A further 36,000 homes and businesses were restored by the end of play on Tuesday, but by Wednesday it emerged that some 3,000 electricity poles across the country would need to be replaced, along with around 900 km of new conductor cable needing to be laid.

To get the work done, crews have been working up to 15-hour shifts to clear the backlog of work.

As well as the normal crews backed by private contracts firms, they have been helped by what have been described as “skilled retirees”.

By Thursday evening, power had resumed to 682,000 homes and businesses, with some 86,000 in mainly isolated rural areas remaining without power.

The University of Galway Connacht GAA Air Dome was extensively damaged by Storm Éowyn. Picture: James Crombie/Inpho

By then 285 foreign technicians were in the country including from the UK, Finland, France and Austria.

At least 17 extra generators arrived from the European Union, with 13 from the EU's strategic reserve based in Poland, while Denmark mobilised an extra four via the EU's Civil Protection Mechanism.

As well as damaging the electricity network, the storm also caused almost 6,000 reports of network damage to Eir, including fallen poles, damaged cables, and other hazards.

So far, more than 3,500 of these have been rectified, but the company says “new reports continue to emerge” as recovery efforts progress.

Although more than 250,000 homes and more than 830 mobile sites have restored service, about 20,000 homes remain without broadband, primarily in Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Leitrim, Monaghan, and Donegal.

Power outages continue to be a cause of service disruption during storm events, says the company.

It has back-up power sources at 1,250 exchange sites across the country, static generators at over 250 critical sites, and over 60 mobile generators, alongside battery back up on over 60% of its mobile sites.

   

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