Aftermath of storm 'a game of patience'

While electricity in the town Mullagh was mostly restored through Friday and Saturday, a tank of water, which came to the town on Sunday, was the only source of water for most of the community on Monday morning.

Locals flocked to fill drums and bottles with water at the tank, which was located beside St Kilian’s Heritage Centre in Mullagh.

Andy Harper was filling up drums of water with his wife Sandra when The Anglo-Celt stopped to hear how Storm Éowyn affected their home.

“We were lucky,” he said, adding that in terms of damage, the storm blew their fence into the garden.

The power in their home went out at about 5:30am on Friday morning, however was back on in “less than” 12 hours.

“And it has been back on since,” Andy gratefully added.

“The day the power came back on, the water went,” he said, which is why he was in the queue of around 15 people at the Mullagh water tank.

“The kids find it the hardest because you try to make them understand that you can’t flush the toilet,” the father of three said, describing how the water in their attic tank is “gone” meaning no shower and the Harpers cannot heat their home.

Andy was grateful that a temporary water supply had come to the town, however just one hose to supply its inhabitants and those from the surrounding areas left him waiting for an hour and a half the previous day to fill some bottles.

“It’s better than nothing but it could be better still,” he said, adding that his water “may be” back Tuesday or Wednesday.

Community spirit

He has never seen a storm so bad in his lifetime, and was pleased to see that “people are looking after each other”.

“People are talking to people they’ve never talked to before so that’s one good thing that’s come out of it.”

Koffi Montcho was also filling up drums of water, with no supply at his Mullagh home.

“I hope they are working on it and that it will come back soon,” he said.

Meanwhile Colm Maguire from Mullagh and Alfred Henry from Munterconnacht were watching those queuing for water while enjoying a cup of tea outside the bishop’s house, where they were working.

Children ‘scared’

Colm described “getting candles going” with his three children aged five, nine and 12 on Friday after the storm left their home without power.

“They were scared,” he said, outlining that the only damage to their home was the trampoline “went for a bit of a flitter” but didn’t leave the garden.

To his relief, the power came back on Saturday, however his water supply hadn’t been restored, which he said was “not too bad” with the community water tank “only down the town”.

He has had “no communication from anybody” regarding when the supply will be restored.

“I’ve people up beside me who don’t drive, older people, so I’m trying to get water to them as well.

“I did a couple of runs yesterday,” he said, adding that there were queues down the street of Mullagh for water with the tank “not long emptying”.

Concern for cattle

Munterconnacht man Alfred Henry described the aftermath of the storm as “a game of patience” which for him was over with water and power restored on Monday morning. His main concern was for his cattle who have had no water with the power outages, leaving him to draw water from the local river with a slurry tank since Friday. The roof of his home is without a few slates and his sheds are all intact, however he pities his neighbour who has had the “roofs stripped off” their sheds.

Apology from Irish Water

Uisce Éireann’s Peter Gallagher explained that the majority of Uisce Éireann’s customers affected in Cavan have seen their supply return with crews on the ground working to deploy generators and provide alternative water supplies in areas where water has been off for longer periods.

“We apologise to customers who have been without water for a few days and ask for the public’s continued patience during this challenging time. In areas where water supply has been out for longer periods, our teams are working to provide alternative water supplies,” he said.

“We are also providing additional supports for elderly and vulnerable customers, and we could encourage people to contact our customer care team at 1800 278 278 if additional support is needed.”

Customers are reminded to use their own containers when taking water from tankers and to boil water before consumption as a precautionary measure.