Press release
National Emergency Co-ordination Group meets as nationwide clean-up continues following Storm Éowyn
From Department of the Taoiseach
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of the Taoiseach
Published on
Last updated on
The National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG) met today (Saturday) as the nationwide clean-up continues following Storm Éowyn. The Chair of the NECG had briefed the Taoiseach Micheál Martin earlier this morning and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne, was in attendance at the NECG meeting.
The NECG is continuing its work to coordinate and support efforts to restore power, water, telecommunications and other services to homes, farms and businesses.
With unprecedented power outages due to Storm Éowyn, ESB Networks is mobilising all available resources to restore connections as soon as possible. Already 308,000 power connections have been restored, and intensive work will continue over the weekend.
It is expected that full restoration will take more than a week in the worst impacted areas. Estimated restoration times (ERTs) will be provided as network faults are assessed and these will be available to view at www.PowerCheck.ie.
Local authorities across the country have made significant progress removing debris and clearing roads, but the public are reminded to be vigilant as fallen trees or other debris may remain in some areas. Any obstructions should be reported to the local authority or Gardaí, or to the ESB in the case of fallen or damaged wires.
The public are reminded that storm clean-up should be left to the emergency services and professional operators who have the necessary competence, training and equipment to undertake the work safely.
Keith Leonard, Chair of the NECG said:
“Although the recovery stage is now well underway, the damage caused by Storm Éowyn will still present hazards on our roads, so I’m asking drivers to continue taking extra care this weekend. In particular, please heed the advice from the ESB – never approach fallen power lines and report such cases to ESB Emergency Services. Major clean-up and road clearance operations should also be left to the emergency services and professional operators who are trained to do such work safely.
“The NECG continues to focus on co-ordinating efforts to restore power, water, telecommunications and other services to the many homes, farms and businesses affected by this storm. A whole of Government effort is underway to ensure we get the right resources to the right places and get the country back to normal as soon as possible, with the Defence Forces and many state agencies, including the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Coillte, providing manpower, resources and assistance to clear obstructions and to help ESB Networks to restore connection to those still without power. There will continue to be significant impacts to services across all sectors in the coming days due the severity of the impact to the power distribution network, but every effort is being made to restore power and services as fast as humanly possible.”
The NECG Infrastructure Sub-Group will meet this afternoon with a focus on coordinating the ongoing efforts to restore power and other services.
The full NECG will meet again tomorrow, and work will continue throughout the day to coordinate the response and recovery.
Power
460,000 homes, farms and businesses remain without power following Storm Éowyn.
ESB Networks is mobilising all available resources to restore power to homes, farms and businesses as soon as possible. Already power has been restored to 308,000 customers and intensive work will continue over the weekend.
It is expected that full restoration will take more than a week in the worst impacted areas. Estimated restoration times will be provided as network faults are assessed and these will be available to view at www.PowerCheck.ie.
ESB Networks is part of a mutual association called NEWSAC (North, East, West, South Area Consortium) which is composed of all of the electricity companies in Ireland and the UK. These companies provide mutual aid to support each other in the aftermath of storms. While we are very conscious that other electricity Network companies are facing challenges as result of this storm, a formal request has been submitted to NEWSAC for support crews to aid restoration.
An Important Public Safety Message: ESB Networks reminds the pubic to Stay Safe, Stay Clear of fallen electricity wires. If you come across fallen wires or damaged electricity network, never, ever touch or approach these as they are LIVE and extremely dangerous. Please report any damage to electricity infrastructure by calling 1800 372 999.
Water
Uisce Éireann crews continue to monitor the impact of Storm Éowyn on water supplies across the country.
There are approximately 200,000 customers without water as of 10am Saturday morning, and a further 300,000 at risk.
There has been disruption to supply due to widespread power outages impacting on water and wastewater treatment plants, pumping station and other network assets.
Incident management processes have been stood up and crews are working to restore supplies.
Telecoms
The estimated effect of Storm Éowyn on the national telecoms userbase is the largest in the Commission for Communications Regulation (Comreg’s) recording history and appears to have peaked.
• 281,326 Fixed Service users (10%) are affected as of 10:00 Saturday 25 January
• 1,760,373 Mobile Service users (30%) are affected as of as of 10:00 Saturday 25 January
• Total users affected nationwide is 40% or 2,041,699
Operators have indicated the most impacted areas are Galway, Donegal, Mayo, Roscommon, Clare, Meath, Dublin, Kildare, Louth, Laois, Sligo and Westmeath. Those affected by fixed service failures will likely experience full disconnection. Those affected by mobile service failures are unlikely to experience complete disconnection. They may experience disruption on data and voice; text messaging is much less likely to be affected.
Calls to emergency services utilise any available network regardless of operator subscription and should function as normal nationwide.
Restoration of mobile service will focus on voice and SMS initially; data services may be slower to return. Comreg is monitoring the situation and liaising with operators; further updates are expected throughout the weekend.
Health services
HSE services throughout the country saw significant disruptions due to Storm Éowyn with a range of services in hospitals and community healthcare cancelled yesterday and some impacts due to power outages.
HSE services are working over the weekend to return to normal after Storm Éowyn.
Updates, advice and details of further health service disruptions at https://www2.hse.ie/services/disruptions/ and the HSE will also provide regular updates through local media and on national and regional social media channels.
Humanitarian Assistance Scheme
The Minister for Social Protection, Dara Calleary, has confirmed that the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme will be available to provide support to those living in properties directly affected Storm Éowyn.
The Humanitarian Assistance Scheme prevents hardship by providing income-tested financial support to people whose homes are damaged from flooding and severe weather events and who are unable to meet costs for essential needs, household items and structural repair.
If any homeowner affected by severe weather needs to access these supports, emergency Community Welfare Service contact details are available here: gov.ie - Customer Notices (www.gov.ie).
Road safety
Nationally all road users are being advised to be aware of the dangers that may remain following the storm such as downed pylons, lines, trees, branches, and other debris which could block roads. Obey any road closures or diversions put in place by local authorities and An Garda Síochána.
Transport
Most transport services have now returned to normal following significant disruption yesterday. Passengers are advised to contact their operator for the most up to date information.
Farm safety
Farmers should not put their safety at risk making repairs to buildings or removing fallen trees or branches. This should only be undertaken by operators with the skills and the personal protective equipment to carry out the work safely.
Fallen electricity wires and wires in contact with or close to damaged trees pose a particular risk in the aftermath of a storm. The ESB should be contacted immediately where electricity wires pose a risk to safety.
ENDS
For further information contact:
Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage Press Office
Tel: (01) 888 2638 (direct)
Email: press@housing.gov.ie
Website: gov.ie/housing
Twitter: @DeptHousingIRL