Mayo councillor calls for better response to deal with climate emergencies

An Mayo councillor has called for the emergency services to prepare themselves better to deal with weather emergencies after some communities were left without electricity for four days.

A number of communities across Mayo were left without electricity for a number of days last week following heavy snowfall on Wednesday night while Storm Bert led to flooding in parts over the weekend.

A number of houses on the Currane peninsula in the parish of Achill were left without electricity for nearly five days after heavy snowfall destroyed much of the electricity infrastructure in the area.

Crews from as far away as Limerick and Donegal travelled to Achill as they battled freezing conditions and gale force winds over the weekend to replace much of the infrastructure. Power was eventually restored to the majority of households by Monday.

Achill councillor Paul McNamara praised the work of the ESB crews for getting power restored but stated that people should not have to go up to five days without power and urged the authorities to plan better for natural disasters.

“If something is not done for rural areas it is going to get worse. There were 500 houses left without power for four days and 70 percent of those were elderly people and the way things are, nearly everything in the house is all electrical and some didn't even have solid fuel.

“I am all for where we are going with energy and solar panels but that will tell for the next generation and we are doing nothing for the generation that is here. Unless proper emergency plans are in place for these rural areas it will be catastrophic going forward.

“In my area we had about 15 to 20 retirements of the outdoor council staff and a lot of them have not been replaced. Now we are seeing the knock on effect on the ground and the Chief Executive needs to look at having proper emergency procedures in place when storms and flooding hits.

Neglected

“One sure thing is if this happened on the east coast it would be all over the news every evening until the last house was connected back. But because it was the west coast it is neglected and forgotten about and that is the annoying part. Nothing is being done as far as I am concerned to protect the vulnerable in rural Ireland from the change in the climate and the frequent storms that are happening,” he told yesterday's monthly meeting of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District.

ESB confirmed that up to 70 poles had to be replaced after they were damaged due to heavy snowfall while transformers, wires and other fittings also had to be replaced. A spokesperson for the ESB told The Mayo News because of the terrain and the weather conditions it was difficult to immediately repair them.

“The area was very difficult to access first by road because of snow and ice and also due to the rough terrain which made things quite treacherous and difficult for crews. Ordinarily wind from Storm Bert would not cause such a delay but coming so quickly after the snow and the damage it made working at height quite difficult.

“We got crews as far as Letterkenny and Longford funnelled into the island to get everyone back so there was a concerted effort made in Achill. There was a huge effort made to get everyone back because we know going three or four nights without power is incredibly difficult. We thank them for their forbearance and apologise for the inconvenience caused,” the spokesperson said.