Update from the National Emergency Co-ordination Group on storm recovery response
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 again today (Tuesday) to continue to coordinate efforts to restore power, water, telecommunications and other services following Storm Éowyn.
Supported by government departments and agencies on the NECG, ESB Networks continues to mobilise all available resources to restore power connections as soon as possible.
Power has been restored to 743,000 homes, farms, schools, and businesses however, 25,000 customers remain without supply. Customers should note that after being reconnected, they may experience some short disruptions to power to allow neighbours to be safely reconnected.
Very good progress has been made in terms of restoring power to schools. At the peak, more than 300 schools across the country were without power. The vast majority of schools now have power restored and reopened today as normal.
In the areas with the largest number of faults, as ESB Networks make progress to repair the extensive damage, some customers may see their estimated restoration times change over the coming days. If you are in a position to visit the PowerCheck website, estimated restoration times will continue to be updated.
Several large-capacity generators have been provided by Poland and Denmark, following a request under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The generators are being deployed to support ESB Networks, Uisce Éireann and telecommunications operators to bring power, water, phone and broadband services back to homes, schools and businesses.
Fewer than 300 premises remain without water and significant progress has been made in restoring telecommunication services.
The NECG will meet again tomorrow, and the relevant subgroups continue to progress work in their respective areas.
The NECG is the established central government platform for responding to national level emergencies under the Strategic Emergency Management Framework.
Approximately 25,000 homes, farms, schools and businesses remain without power following Storm Éowyn. ESB Networks is mobilising all available resources to restore power as soon as possible. Already power has been restored to 743,000 customers and intensive work will continue.
In the areas with the largest number of faults, as ESB Networks make progress to repair the extensive damage, some customers may see their estimated restoration times change over the coming days. If you are in a position to visit the PowerCheck website, estimated restoration times will continue to be updated.
Customers who remain without power will progressively have their supply restored over the course of the week.
In some instances, when carrying out restoration work on main lines, customers whose power has been reconnected should be aware that they may experience some short disruptions to power for very short periods of time to allow neighbours to be reconnected. These interruptions ensure that restoration work can safely take place on the system.
Skilled technicians from counterparts in Austria, Finland, France, Great Britain, Germany, and Norway are on the ground in the worst impacted areas. They are supporting over 2,500 local ESB Networks crews and partner contractors who have been bolstered by colleagues from the south and east of the country, as well as skilled retirees.
In addition to the crews deployed, over 1,300 support staff are involved in overseeing damage assessment, emergency call management, logistics and network operations. ESB Networks’ customer contact centre has also doubled its resources to accommodate the unprecedented high volumes of calls, resulting in short call response times throughout the day and night for their customers.
Fewer than 300 premises remain without water as of Tuesday, 4 February. The vast majority of customers have now had their water supply restored since the storm. Uisce Éireann teams will continue their efforts to restore supply to any remaining areas, as well as carrying out business-as-usual repair and maintenance works on the network.
Uisce Éireann have now deployed and installed generators at almost all of the plants, pumping stations and reservoirs where it is feasible to do so. Having done so, Uisce Éireann are continuing to work closely with the ESB to prioritise the restoration of electricity supply in the remaining locations.
In areas where water has not yet returned, alternative water supplies are being provided at seven locations to support local communities and Uisce Éireann is tankering water to treated water reservoirs to resupply smaller schemes. Uisce Éireann are also liaising with Local Coordination Groups and Emergency Response Hubs in areas where these have been established.
Updates on the location of these alternative water supplies and other supply updates are available on the Uisce Éireann website, and customers can also contact Uisce Éireann directly on 1800 278 278.
The estimated effect of Storm Éowyn on the national telecoms userbase was the largest in Comreg’s recording history.
As of 10am, Tuesday 4 February:
Repair and restoration work has returned normal services to most customers and several fixed service operator networks have been returned to normal service levels. That notwithstanding, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications recognises that many areas in the north and west of the country continue to be affected by outages, which have been caused by extensive damage to infrastructure in rural areas.
At peak some 60,000 National Broadband Ireland customers were without service. 85% of these customers have had their services restored. The top 6 counties that continue to be impacted account for approximately 65% of the remaining customers without service – these are Galway, Roscommon, Cavan, Longford, Monaghan and Mayo.
Restoration of full services has been hampered by the complexity of the repairs required to restore damaged infrastructure. Telecommunications operators continue to engage with ComReg and report outages across their networks. They have mobilised all available resources to further the restoration of these services.
Ireland has been actively working with colleagues in the EU Civil Protection Mechanism since 22 January requesting an initial damage assessment through Copernicus (satellite mapping).
When severe emergencies occur, national authorities first develop an overview of the situation, making requests based on the needs identified. It is essential that a needs assessment be carried out to ensure appropriate and detailed requests can be made for limited shared resources.
The NECG Infrastructure sub-group identified the need for large capacity generator support which was relayed through the Common Emergency Communications & Information System (CECIS) on the afternoon of Saturday 25 February.
Ireland was offered:
The generators are being deployed to support Uisce Éireann and telecommunications infrastructure.
Local authorities are coordinating a local-level humanitarian assistance response to the needs of people who have been significantly impacted by the storm. Local Coordination Groups are now in place in 16 local authority areas.
A key focus is on ensuring the welfare of isolated people and those most impacted by the loss of power, water and other services. A number of organisations, including Uisce Éireann, ESB Networks, An Post, An Garda Síochána, HSE and Local Link are checking in on people and any concerns will be raised through the Local Coordination Group for follow up.
Any member of the public who has any concerns about friends, family or neighbours can contact their local coordination group helpline who will follow up. Helpline numbers are available at www.gov.ie/StormResponse.
There are 335 Emergency Response Hubs currently operational, down from a high of 380. These include community-led hubs with local authority financial and administrative supports. Emergency Response Hubs are assisting people with basic needs such as water, hot food, phone charging, broadband access, and shower facilities.
At lunchtime today, emergency response hubs were operating in the following locations. Check with your local authority for the latest updates:
Further details on the above hubs are available at www.gov.ie/stormresponse and an interactive map of hubs is available.
The Humanitarian Assistance emergency financial payment is available to homeowners in the immediate aftermath of a severe weather event. It is open to homeowners in affected areas who do not have any power or water supply and includes support to pay for alternative accommodation if necessary.
Stage 1 provides emergency support payments for food, clothing and personal items in the immediate aftermath of the event. These payments are not income tested and are generally for essential food and clothing based on the immediate needs of impacted individuals.
Non-income tested support is available under Stage 1 of the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme for alternative accommodation costs.
The Humanitarian Assistance Scheme can also provide income-tested support for the replacement of goods and more extensive longer-term support.
The Community Welfare Service is working closely with the local authorities and Community Welfare Officers are visiting people in their homes where necessary to provide support.
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.
ESB Networks has been made aware of potentially very dangerous incidents where members of the public have unknowingly approached fallen electricity infrastructure. People are reminded to stay safe, stay clear of fallen electricity wires.
If you come across fallen wires or damaged electricity networks, 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.
Arising from storm Éowyn, and subsequent damage to the ESB network, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) understands that electrical generators are being used to provide temporary replacement power. When installing and using electrical generators, it is crucial to ensure that the electrical installation work is carried out by a competent person.
Persons installing generators should observe the electrical safety standards and ensure they do not connect a generator to a socket or distribution board. Doing so will create a feed onto the electricity network and will pose a danger to others including ESB network repair crews. It’s important to know that portable generators can bring a fire risk and emit carbon monoxide (CO) – a poisonous, deadly gas.
The public are also reminded:
For more safety guidance, visit the Carbon Monoxide website.
Very good progress has been made in terms of restoring power to schools. The vast majority of schools now have power restored and have reopened as normal. Generators have been provided to some schools to facilitate them to reopen.
School management should note that, after being reconnected, some schools may experience some short disruptions to power to allow households, other schools and businesses in their vicinity to be safely reconnected.
The Department of Education and ESB Networks teams are working closely together to deal with the handful of remaining schools without power, so that from today (Tuesday) they have restoration of power or the provision of a generator. Contact is being made with individual schools to keep them updated and so that they can keep their school communities informed.
Exceptional application facility for those who have been impacted by Storm Éowyn to be made available on the CAO website until 5pm on 6 February.
The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and the National Cyber Security Centre are aware of scam text messages in circulation purporting to come from ESB Networks.
Users should exercise caution when receiving messages from unknown numbers.
Government departments and agencies or your bank will never phone, text, email or video call you unexpectedly asking for your bank details.
Users should not engage directly, nor share any personal information if asked, and should block and report the suspicious number if necessary.
If you believe you are a victim of a cyber-crime, contact your local Garda station and take screenshots of texts, emails or other communications.
Further information is available on the ESB website.
Details of health service disruptions can be found on the HSE website and the HSE will also provide regular updates through local media and on national and regional social media channels.
In situations where service users have no electricity at home and are reliant on electronically powered medical devices, they should immediately consider the following advice: