According to the manager of Castlebar Social Services in County Mayo, elderly individuals who have been without electricity since Storm Éowyn “are staying in bed to stay warm,” reports RTE.
Such individuals “don’t have any means of heating” at the time, according to Deirdre Waldron.
She went on to say that “an awful lot” of the company’s customers “rely solely on the pendant alarm,” but others could live in places without phone service, reports RTE.
“Vodafone, Eir, they don’t know when the landlines are going to be back up,” added Ms Waldron, reports RTE.
She told RTÉ’s News at One that the weather forecasts meant the charity, which runs a meals-on-wheels service, was “able to send out double meals” the day before the storm.
In spite of this, “it was really just crisis mode” by Monday, reports RTE.
Through its telephone service, Castlebar Social Services, which serves 150 customers in the area, made contact with people.
However, according to Ms. Waldron, members “went out physically and met them” because some were unreachable, reports RTE.
She noted that the group communicated with gardaà and locals and was “able to tap into the ones that we knew were the most venerable.”
According to Ms. Waldron, “the elderly are very undemanding,” and some of her customers would say to members, “I’m used to this, we grew up with no electricity,” reports RTE.
“The cold, it was difficult for them,” she added.
People who “don’t have light and heating” can use the hot water flasks that the group provide, reports RTE.
Regarding the meals-on-wheels program, Ms. Waldron stated that since some customers are unable to use their refrigerators, hot meals are being brought to them instead of “blast chilled” ones.
She said that “we need to put something in place because there are going to be more storms” and that incidents like Storm Éowyn may teach us valuable lessons, reports RTE.
“The most vulnerable” may be given generators as part of such a scheme,” she noted, reports RTE.
She said the number of people aged 65 and over is “projected to double over the next 20 years” and “demand on health and social care services is going to be massive”, reports RTE.
“I just think you know we are working with groups in Mayo and voluntary and community groups and we’re looking to put a plan in place for housing and community support, reports RTE.
“I’m hoping that the Government will back us on that when it when it comes to fruition,” Ms Waldron said, reports RTE.
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