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Dubbed the storm of the century, Storm Eowyn left 750,000 homes without electricity.
ADVERTISEMENT45 lunches. That’s four sandwiches, two energy bars, two pieces of fruit and three bottles of water. “There’s 45 on the team, they get their goodie bags every day. And then they’re off.”
This has been the drill all week at the Hodson Bay Hotel in County Roscommon, says Lucian Brooks. He is a waiter at the hotel based just outside Athlone, a town known as the gateway to the west of Ireland. It’s a few days after Storm Eowyn and the hotel is buzzing.
I overhear a question at the front desk: “Are you with the ESB?” Groups of mostly men, speaking a language I can’t quite identify, are being given complimentary meals. These are the emergency crews who flew in from around Europe to help Ireland’s Electricity Supply Board (ESB) in restoring power to thousands of customers across the island.
Dubbed the storm of the century, Storm Eowyn produced record-breaking gusts of 135 km/h and made headlines worldwide. At its peak, it left 750,000 homes without electricity. The west of Ireland was hit especially hard.
Finnish crews working alongside the Irish
“The Finnish electricity crew are all staying here,” says Brooks. “They have breakfast in the morning, then they go down for a debrief.”
Working alongside them is a group of tree surgeons, summoned from Kilkenny in Ireland’s ‘Sunny South East’.
Clayton Delaney has tree-felling in his blood. “My father bought me a hatchet for my sixth birthday and a chainsaw for my thirteenth birthday. He was a forester himself. I’m at it all my life.”
“I love everything about a chainsaw, everything about a tree. That’s the way I was bred,” he says.
Hannah Roche is the only woman in the company, having trained in arboriculture. “I was the first woman to do the apprenticeship. There are women in the industry but they’re few and far between,” she says.
They both work for Ormonde Tree Care, alongside Bruno Lapins who moved to Ireland from Latvia two years ago. “It’s a huge experience,” Bruno says. “It’s teaching me every day something new, like all the new cuts. You’re learning a lot.”
Removing trees from power lines to restore electricity to homes
“What happened here was an unforeseen circumstance of extremely strong wind that hasn’t been recorded before,” says Hannah, reflecting on Storm Eowyn. “There’s whole forestries that are just horizontal.”
“With the wind, the trees collapsed on top of the power lines. So that’s our job. We’re there to release them and free it all so people can get their power back,” says Clayton.
Every day they’re up at seven. “Then we’re straight to ESB headquarters. We get locations and coordinates. And then we go,” he says.
First off, the electricity to the line is cut off to make it safe, with the electricity crew and tree-surgeons working closely together. “You’re depending on them for your lives,” Clayton says.
They use fibreglass rods to reduce the risk of electrocution. “There’s massive danger there. We’re talking 120,000 volts or more, that can kill you stone dead.” Trees can also spring back after felling. The crew must always ensure that everyone is in a safe position.
ADVERTISEMENT‘I’d often hug a tree before I’d knock it’
Trees have fallen on houses, power lines were burned down, and tree roots were lifted out of the ground. A lot of old trees have also been lost in the storm. “You’re losing history, in a way,” says Hannah.
“We’ve lost a load of old growth,” says Clayton. The oldest was a 250-year old beech tree whose rings they almost lost count of. “To think that that tree would have been there longer than our grandparents.”
The trees have been host to and part of ecosystems over their lifespan. “You have to think of the wildlife that have lived there, been there, nested there. You have squirrels, especially red squirrels, and cattle use them as back scratchers,” says Clayton.
“I hate knocking trees, but sometimes you have to do it as well. I’d often hug a tree before I’d knock it. And I’d say sorry, I have to let you go now and thanks for what you provided, the oxygen and for the wildlife that you had there in you. You’re going to the ground now,” says Clayton.
ADVERTISEMENT“We went to a house yesterday,” he says. “It was an old man. He was out of electricity since Saturday, and to see the joy on his face when we came to the house. He was like, God, I’m so happy to see you here. It makes a difference, and it makes the job just that little bit easier, to know that you’re doing something like that. Everyone sticks together in a situation like that. It does fill your heart a little bit.”
Will Storm Eowyn be a catalyst for change in the Irish electricity sector?
“I think the problem lies in foresight,” says Hannah. “A lot of the sites that we’ve been to have been power lines going through corridors in forestry. They’re not accounting for when those trees grow and are 30 or 40 years old.”
“We need to join up as an industry. The foresters, the electricity industry, and the arboriculture industry,” she says.
To keep spirits high, the 100th pint of Guinness that night is given for free by the hotel, and Clayton’s team has won it. Meanwhile, the Finnish crew discover Irish hospitality, as they try Guinness and attempt to ‘split the G’, a drinking game that involves finishing a pint of Guinness in one go. Just like working on the storm, it’s a team effort.
ADVERTISEMENT“Everyone just knits together. We’re all on the same page. We’re here to do a job at the end of the day, whether it’s pulling wires, putting up lines, cutting trees, everyone wants everyone to be safe, and we want to restore the power so everyone can get back to normal.”
“Everybody’s coming together. Humans helping humans,” says Hannah.
“I think that’s the cherry on the cake,” says Bruno. “To be useful, making other people think that soon everything will be good.
Power was finally restored across Ireland on 11 February, 18 days after Storm Eowyn hit.
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