A man receiving palliative care is among the “miserable” residents affected as 8,000 homes remain without power in Northern Ireland a week after Storm Eowyn.
Efforts to repair damaged power lines continue into a seventh day as thousands of homes across Northern Ireland are still waiting for their electricity supplies to be restored.
Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) Networks said its more than 1,550 staff and contractors have been working “tirelessly” to restore power, though some areas may not see electricity return until 10pm on Saturday.
Emma Garrett, 43, from Mallusk in County Antrim, described the week-long power outage as “miserable” and a “nightmare”.
Ms Garrett’s father-in-law, Wilfred Garrett, 79, lives next door to her with her mother-in-law, and has heart failure and lives with diabetes.
Emma Garrett and her family in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, have been without power for seven days, forcing her son to do his homework by torchlight (Emma Garrett/PA)
He relies on electricity to monitor his blood sugar levels and was “given a diagnosis of a matter of months to live” by doctors over the Christmas period, according to his daughter-in-law.
“With type 1 diabetes, circulation is badly affected, so staying warm is really important,” Ms Garrett, chief executive of a social enterprise, told the PA news agency.
“He relies on electricity to notify him when his blood sugar levels change dramatically, so that obviously wasn’t happening either with no power in his house.”
She said NIE Networks “don’t seem to have prioritised” Mr Garrett and criticised the company for not doing more to support him.
“They left him out a generator, but it wasn’t fit for purpose … which means that it would really only turn on his TV and a couple of lights – it wouldn’t turn on the heating system,” she said.
Ms Garrett said she has spent hundreds on hotel rooms for herself, her two sons aged 11 and 14, and her mother-in-law and father-in-law – while her husband has remained at home, without lights and heating, to keep the property safe.
“We do have a stove which was able to heat one room, but we’ve no warm water, no means to cook food and it’s dark, so it’s been pretty miserable,” she said.
She said she has thrown away “around £300 worth of food” and has had to rely on hotel stays after the rest of her family were also impacted by power outages.
“We’re having to buy food daily because we can’t keep any food in the house. We can’t cook, so we’re having to rely on takeaways,” she said.
Ms Garrett estimates she has spent more than £1,500 to cover the cost of three nights at their local hotel, food waste and other daily food purchases.
She said she feels fortunate to have enough money to cover her expenses, but added she felt “very nervous” for families “who are really struggling, are living day to day, and who are having to rely on food banks”.
She has urged NIE Networks to offer accommodation to vulnerable people and households on low income to compensate for the week-long power outage.
Emma Garret estimates she has spent £1,500 to cover the cost of hotel accommodation, food waste and other daily food purchases (Emma Garrett/PA)
“They definitely should be prioritising people who are vulnerable, and perhaps people who are reliant on food banks, or people like my father-in-law who are medically unwell,” she said.
“They should be providing accommodation for them at this stage when they’re seven days and no heat in their house.”
Ms Garrett was told by her electricity provider to expect her power to be restored by 10pm on Saturday.
In a statement on its website, NIE Networks said: “We continue to work tirelessly to restore power to all those still affected across Northern Ireland. We have over 1,550 staff and contractors escalated, additional support from other countries and further support on the way.
“Over the coming days there may be occasions when householders experience interruption to their electricity supply as we undertake permanent repairs and work to restore all those impacted.”
PA has contacted NIE Networks for comment.