A new emergency “humanitarian group” has been established to deal with the hardship caused by Storm Éowyn as 100,000 people face going without power until February.
Around 246,000 homes and businesses remained without electricity on Sunday, while 109,000 were yet to have water restored, after the worst storm to hit Ireland in decades.
The ESB said the vast majority of those affected will have supply restored by Friday. However, “after this we expect that the remaining, approximately 100,000, customers will progressively have their supply restored over the course of the following week”.
A new group to help vulnerable communities and individuals, which will operate as part of the National Emergency Coordination Group (NECG), held its first meeting on Sunday. It followed a full meeting of the NECG.
An Irishman at Oxford: It was an education in being an outsider. I felt alienated from the very start
Una says her phone was hacked, €3,500 is missing, yet the bank won’t pay out
DPP considers charges against Gerry Hutch over alleged Garda corruption
Protesters walk out of Michael D Higgins’s speech at Holocaust Memorial Day event
Through local authorities, the new group will set up emergency response hubs for people who are still without electricity, water or services; provide telephone helplines to help people connect with emergency help and aid; and also, through councils, set up outreach teams to identify, and assist, vulnerable people and groups.
ESB Networks updated the NECG meeting on restoration times for electricity supply and predicted that the vast majority of properties will have their supply restored by next Friday.
“Weather conditions may impact on the restoration work,” the utility company warned.
Schools which closed for the storm on Friday have been instructed to reopen as long as it is safe to do so and power has been restored.
The emergency hubs will assist people with basic needs such as water, hot food, phone charging, broadband access, shower and clothes washing facilities. It will also get councils to set up helplines for those in need of assistance and point them to available support. Local co-ordination groups will also ensure that supplies and assistance are being directed to the worst-affected communities.
Keith Leonard, chair of the NECG, said: “The needs of the most vulnerable will be prioritised.”
No budget has been agreed as yet but it is understood that given the extent of the damage to properties and households throughout the State, it will be substantial.
Dara Calleary, Minister for Social Protection and Rural Affairs, confirmed at the meeting that the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme would be available to provide support to households adversely affected by Storm Éowyn.
The scheme provides financial assistance to households affected by a severe weather event. In the first stage, it will provide emergency support payments for food and clothing. At later stages, homeowners can apply for funding to replace basic furniture and white goods, and also for funds to help pay for damage caused to their residence.
Telecommunications and water supplies have also been significantly affected by Storm Éowyn. In most cases, this is due to knock-on effects of power outages, with assessments continuing, according to the NECG.
Approximately 109,000 customers were without water supply as of lunchtime on Sunday and a further 126,000 households were classified as “at risk”. Uisce Éireann has deployed generators to local water schemes over the past few days. As of Sunday, water was being supplied to 112,000 people from temporary generators.
The telecoms situation continues to improve, the NECG meeting was told on Sunday. More than a quarter of telephone users in the State – 1.4 million out of 5.5 million – had been affected by damage caused to telecoms networks. Of those, the vast majority are mobile service users (1.25 million). The worst-affected counties are: Galway, Donegal, Mayo, Sligo, Monaghan, Cavan, Roscommon, Dublin, Cork, Meath and Westmeath.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
