The Irish Red Cross has chronicled the key role it played in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn – carrying out 551 door-to-door welfare checks in nine of the hardest-hit counties, including Galway.

A group of 90 volunteers formed an emergency response team for the two weeks; 31 of the volunteers recorded a combined total of 355 volunteer hours.

A total of 410 welfare packs distributed – typically milk, five litre water bottles, a newspaper, hand sanitizer, wet wipes, biscuits.

They carried out needs assessments at 76 community-based humanitarian hubs – with over one-third of them, or 26, in Galway where rural isolation was cited as people’s major concern.

They also established Happy Hubs in Galway, Leitrim, and Monaghan to support teenagers’ wellbeing and provide a space for exam-year students to study ahead of mock exams and to complete the online CAO application.

Brian Madden, a volunteer with the Galway branch of Irish Red Cross, offered a window into his life for the days and weeks after Storm Éowyn.

“Identifying the best travel routes for different teams was how I spent my mornings since the storm,” he said.

“The remote nature of many affected areas compounds the challenges, with Irish Red Cross volunteers often having to travel a distance down rural lanes to identified vulnerable individuals often on impassable boreens where the electric cables were down.

“Its human nature to want to do welfare checks on as many people as possible. But headcount would have been chasing the wrong matrix. What matters more is to meet the people who aren’t meeting many others.

“Those who live alone, those who go for days without meeting another soul. Focussing on remote rural areas means less people visited on a daily basis.

“One elderly man I met in Connemara became vulnerable during the power outages. Even though his power and water were back, his phone was not and he wasn’t able to contact his family, which was distressing him,” he added.

Overall, the volunteers said they had expected more anger and frustration from those they visited, but found a lot of resilience, and “sure they’re a lot worse off than me” attitude.

Frustrations they encountered included boredom during the dark evenings without light and TV; having to queue to charge mobile phones, stress in the home as a result of teens being without internet to study, connect with friends and to complete the online CAO application for college courses; parents trying to work and care for children and other family members without water or electricity or both, and concerns about the cost of repairs to homes.

Elderly isolation and loneliness was a consistent trend. The Irish Red Cross reached out to charities working with elderly and vulnerable communities nationally and locally and offered welfare-checks to those on the margins to see how they were doing.

“We knew we needed to target the homes of isolated people. In a crisis like the Storm response, vulnerability is a sliding scale,” said Sharon Commins, Head of National Services, Irish Red Cross.

“Many households do not have the financial back-up to absorb the shock of losing a week’s worth of grocery shopping when their fridge and freezer are powered down. Or have the means to purchase take-aways or go out for a hot meal with their family.

“As the days go by, people can slide further into vulnerability, and without social support they can be easily tipped into poverty. It cannot be assumed that vulnerable people have funds to cover the cost of even one night’s accommodation.”

Pictured: Mission…Red Cross volunteers making vital deliveries in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn.