People with disabilities have been hit by ‘double whammy’ of snow and storms

Kanturk, Co Cork, earlier this month. Advocates for disabled people and service providers say struggled with the big freeze even before Storm Éowyn hit. Picture: Dan Linehan

Many people with disabilities were hit by a double whammy in January, first by heavy snowfalls and then by Storm Éowyn, leaving isolation cold, and pain in their wake.

Cork Centre for Independent Living CEO Alison Ryan said icy conditions earlier this month were a serious obstacle even before Storm Éowyn hit.

“We did a lot of shopping for people because they couldn’t go out, but then with the storm there was a huge impact from the electricity and the water being out,” she said.

Tankers delivered water in many areas, but, she pointed out: “If I’m a person with a disability how am I supposed to bring that back home?

“And for people with a power wheelchair, they can’t plug them in and they become immobile then.”

One young man they support had to move to his parent’s home, she said.

He lived in a remote area and we couldn’t guarantee staff could get to his house because of the storm. 

Lighting a fire — for those who have a fireplace — is not always physically possible.

“There’s a double whammy really when you have a disability,” she said, with the snow and Storm Éowyn leaving people without vital heat.

She acknowledged this was an unusual storm, but called for lessons to be learned. She said: 

The councils should have lists of vulnerable people. It’s all very fine to say the neighbours or the postman will look out for them but there should be a register.

“They should be linked with an agency to make sure they are looked after, instead of relying on the postman to notice — it’s a bit ridiculous really. People can fall through the gaps.”

Tomas McCluskey, assisted living service co-ordinator with the Irish Wheelchair Association said the loss of electricity “hugely affects” their members. He works across parts of Tipperary and Kilkenny as well as Waterford and Wexford.

“The electric beds have air mattresses, and when they lose power the mattresses go down over time. They end up lying on bars,” he said. This can lead to pressure sores.

Irish Wheelchair Association assisted living service co-ordinator Tomás McCluskey. Picture: Dylan Vaughan

Some hoists run on batteries, but ceiling hoists are electric meaning some people, especially those living alone, have been stuck in bed.

“Depending on the duration of this, it could be very serious,” he said, noting two of their members have no family and are completely isolated.

In one case an Irish Wheelchair Association assistant moved in, staying in a member’s home until power was restored.

Some families hired generators particularly people with air-to-water heat pumps fearful of losing all heat indoors. “That would be very detrimental,” he said.

It went down to -6C and -7C in places. It was all down through Tipp and Kilkenny, we had the Civil Defence [helping], and I had to call the guards to go check on people. 

The response had to be a team effort, he stressed, as so many people were affected and in different ways.

Health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said on Friday that some acute centres lost power and had to run on generators. 

"We have power to all of our residential services, but there are a number of day facilities and primary care facilities still struggling with electricity re-connection and broadband re-connection," she said. 

HSE CEO Bernard Gloster said the secure radio network used by the emergency services went down "for a period" during the storm. 

"That’s now, in the majority, restored and the service is functioning well," he told RTÉ.