‘We were lucky – we had bottled water and ice packs’

Jessica Thompson

As the devastation of Storm Éowyn set in on Friday week last, January 24, people across the country were having to find new ways to manage without important everyday facilities.

It was 2.30am when my terrified puppy woke me up by barking at the strong wind that beat against our bedroom window. Two hours later, he still hadn’t settled and the electricity had gone out.

By 5am, I had opened the back door to notice our oil tank had been taken from its perch at the back of the house and blown around to the side, still attached to the boiler.

My husband and I struggled against the wind as we pushed it back around to its original location but, within half an hour, it had once again been blown around the side of the house, this time with the pipe snapped and all connection to our boiler severed. We should have got a fill of oil to weigh it down.

It was a scary night, made all the more anxiety-inducing by the darkness. I lit the fire and candles and tried to sleep on the couch as I waited for the dawn. When the sun finally rose, the worst of the wind had passed and the damage could be surveyed.

Almost 30 trees were down on my rural road just a few minutes outside Ballymahon – most of which lay within the field they lined, but one or two sprawled across the road, blocking us in from that side.

Like a lot of others, we survived by using camping equipment. We had bottled water, a powerbank, ice packs to keep our milk cold, battery-powered lanterns, candles, a gas-powered camping stove with a couple of gas canisters.

It was Wednesday evening before power was restored to our area and, with a pump-powered well on site, that meant a return of water to the property too. But many weren’t so lucky, if you could call five whole days without services “lucky”.

Rachel Berry, for example, is 16 weeks pregnant with her first baby. She has some allergies and has to be vigilant in preparing her own food, as well as ensuring she is taking in enough nutrients for the baby.

“That was hard to manage, especially when the camping gas ran out and there wasn’t any available in any shops,” she said.

“Also, driving around for over an hour trying to find water, we tried a local water pump but the well was dry and all the water was gone from the shops.”

Water tankers were made available on Monday in a number of locations across County Longford, including Ballymahon, and by Tuesday, Rachel had moved from her home in north Longford to her sister’s house in Ballymahon.

“I found the cold the hardest, it really got in to my bones and even when I went to my work office I couldn’t get warm. After a few days, my sister got power and water back and ours still wasn’t so I drove 40 minutes to her house to stay until our power and water came back,” she said.

Fortunately, Rachel’s power returned a day later, but for some, such as Christina Logan and her partner Peter Murtagh, the return of electricity was still some time off and there was a need to be creative with managing without.

The couple live in a quiet, rural area between Abbeyshrule and Moyvore, and their home is surrounded by forestry.

“With the storm coming, I did my best to prepare, especially when it came to buying food,” said Christina, who moved some of her perishable foods out to her car when the weather turned cold, keeping them fresh for longer than if she’d left them in the fridge.

“Lucky enough, we can light the stove so we’re okay for heat, but lack of water was an issue. It made flushing toilets, washing and cleaning up after meals tricky. To cut down on washing up, I covered plates with parchment paper or used parchment as a plate. It dramatically reduced the need for water.”

Thankfully, the pair were able to connect a generator to their home to restore water, heat and a limited supply of electricity.

“We don’t know when we will have our electricity back, but we’ve been told the earliest will be the middle of next week. So we will have to use the generator for another while. It’s great to have but expensive to run.”

Not too far from them, a local farmer, who did not wish to be named, said the biggest loss was a newborn lamb that died from the cold due to lack of power.

“We had a lot of lambs born last week. The day before the storm, triplets were born,” the farmer said.

“Our first thoughts when the power went was how we would manage to warm bottles for the weak one who we were feeding.

“We managed well with a camping gas ring, but Sunday night was windy and she must have got cold during the night. Despite our best efforts, she died on Sunday at lunchtime. We had no power to run the red bulb, but we did our best. The power came back at 4pm but it was too late by then.”

As many still face uncertainty over the restoration of power, the community is pulling together to ensure those without power or water are well looked after. Community gardaí have been delivering meals, water and support to vulnerable people who need them.

Huge water tankers are stationed in many of the towns to ensure water is available while people wait for power to return to the water plants.

Emergency response hubs were set up across the council area, including Ballymahon, Edgeworthstown, Lanesborough, Granard, Drumlish and Longford Libraries, which all had electricity and water and invited those who needed it to come in, charge up and connect to the Wifi.

Local sports hubs were also on hand to provide free shower facilities and charging points as thousands of Longford homes remained without power, even up to Friday.