A Galway woman was the last in Ireland to have power restored after Storm Eowyn, enduring 17 days without electricity.
The storm struck Ireland in late January and caused a death, which is awful. Around a million homes lost power back then. It really messed things up.
Repair crews came from other countries to help the ESB fix the power quickly. Some Connacht folks waited a long time, though. The website said power could return February 5th.
Mary Meehan, from Dunmore, went without power for seventeen days, it turns out. Twelve days would have been better, she said. No heat or light made it hard.
Mary cooked dinner at work, where she works at a school. She did laundry at her sister’s house. Life got very difficult after the storm.
Evenings were the toughest part because everyone came home to no heat or light. They borrowed a generator, and Mary said they lived a small life.
She thought the government’s response was poor and didn’t get good info on when power would return. It made things even more stressful.
Mary said they aren’t in a remote area, but felt frustrated about the long wait. It shouldn’t happen now, in 2025, she stated. Seventeen days is too long!
Each morning, they hoped for electricity, but by evening, hope faded. So much disappointment day after day. It must’ve been tough.
They also had no running water, which lasted for a week after the storm. Life without water would have been very hard, too.
A local doctor called it a crisis. It was the sixth day without power, and she had to dump kids’ vaccines because they were not kept cold enough.