After the storm

Power and water was being restored to premises across Tipperary this week after Storm Éowyn brought widespread disruption to the county.

Following hard on the heels of the week of freezing weather earlier in January, the storm left already overburdened emergency services working around the clock to clear roads of fallen trees and debris, and restore electricity and water to homes, farms and commercial premises. North Tipperary may have again escaped the extent of destruction seen in other parts of the country, though the damage and disruption caused by this severe weather event locally has been considerable.

Thousands were left without power, and then water when the impacted power network led to supply problems. Close to 100 trees fell on roads in the Nenagh district alone.

There were crowded scenes at a number of fuel stations in the locality where people in impacted areas were invited to use their electricity supply for the likes of charging phones and heating water.

With ESB crews out working to restore power, there were still around 1,500 outages reported on Monday, mainly in the northern part of the county, though this number was considerably reduced by Tuesday.

The loss of power impacted on water supply in many areas, including Nenagh. While the town itself may have avoided widespread power cuts, the treatment plant outage at its water source in Coolbawn resulted in a loss of water on Saturday, impacting on businesses and homeowners throughout the town.

In Newport, for the first time in decades, the main power line serving the town and the adjoining areas of the region was brought down, causing a widespread blackout. Around 1,300 homes and business premises within the region were left without power for up to three days.

The storm damage has also resulted in Terryglass Church remaining closed.

TREES DOWN

Meanwhile, Tipperary Co Council's outdoor staff responded to multiple reports of trees and overhead wires down on roads across the county.

Among the local roads impacted were Coolbawn-Ballinderry, Borrisokane-Ballinderry, Birdhill-Newport, Portroe-Garrykennedy, Shesharoe, Portroe; Carrigeen, Birdhill; Finnoe House, Borrisokane; Lisbryan, Ballingarry, Roscrea; Shallee, Killoscully; Urra, Ballycommon; Ballingarry-Borrisokane road; Grange Lower, Nenagh; Tullaheady road, Nenagh; Ashley Park-Ballythomas, Ardcroney; Springfield Bridge, Borrisokane and Feebeg, Borrisokane.

The council also advised of caution on the R498 Nenagh-Thurles road at Latteragh, which became partially blocked after a large number trees came down in the storm.

In Cloughjordan, it was reported that the near-hurricane force winds felled many trees in Knocknacree Woods, Scohaboy Bog and at the golf club in Beechwood. In addition, felled trees blocked roads at Ballyhasty, Step Road, Burntwood and Kyle.

Liam Brett, Director of Roads & Transportation, Health & Safety with the council, said close to 100 trees fell on roads across the Nenagh Municipal District.

“Following the red weather warning, Tipperary’s roads and fire crews commenced clearing roads of trees and debris, focusing on the arterial routes first. These crews were successful in clearing the arterial routes by Friday night, allowing for the winter maintenance (salting programme) to proceed.” Mr Brett said the the cleanup continued throughout the weekend.

DEDICATED CONTACT NUMBER

Following the clearance of roads, the council was concentrating efforts on providing assistance to vulnerable people in isolated communities and households in conjunction with the HSE, An Garda Síochána, Department of Social Protection and the council's Housing section.

A dedicated contact number - 0818 06 5001 - was established to provide assistance to vulnerable people still experiencing power outages due to the storm.

Following another meeting of its Crisis Management Team on Monday, the council issued a statement in which it said its staff would seek to assist those with medical/health needs and those lacking social isolation supports.

“Where the council is contacted through this new phone number, we will ascertain what organisation needs to be contacted to respond to the issue, ie the HSE, An Garda Síochána, Department of Social Protection, Housing section, etc, and then to pass on details.

“We do know that these organisations are reaching out to these people, but we want to ensure that the most vulnerable are not missed. In the first instance, we encourage families, neighbours, local clubs, and businesses to seek to assist those who are vulnerable in our community. Tipperary County Council wishes to express our sincere thanks to all those who provided assistance in recent days to those who are vulnerable in our community.”

WATER CREWS ‘WORKING TIRELESSLY’

Uisce Éireann issued a statement in which it said its repair crews were continuing to work this week on returning water supply to all parts of the county.

“Crews have been working tirelessly over the weekend to restore supply to impacted customers and deploying back-up generators to site where required. All water treatment plants supplying the county have had mains power restored, or are operating by temporary back-up generator until power can be restored.”

Uisce Éireann was co-ordinating closely with the ESB to prioritise power restoration while also liaising with other agencies including the National Emergency Co-ordination Group and local authorities.

“This unprecedented storm event has had a severe impact on our water and wastewater network nationwide,” said Head of Water Operations, Margaret Attridge.

Ms Attridge urged customers to conserve water where possible in order to protect supply while the outages are resolved.

Storm Éowyn also posed significant disruption to HSE Mid-West services, including postponement of all outpatient appointments on Friday.

Sandra Broderick, HSE Mid-West Regional Executive Officer, said every effort would be made to re-schedule these at the earliest opportunity.

Ms Broderick took the opportunity to praise the emergency and essential, time-critical service staff that worked through the Red alert, including those of the Injury Unit at Nenagh hospital.

HSE Mid-West is also urging friends, relatives and neighbours to check in with their loved ones regularly, either in person or by phone, in the aftermath of the storm.