Latest news with #StormÉowyn.
BBC News
04-05-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Storm Éowyn: Mourne Wall repairs to cost £650k
Months after Storm Éowyn left a trail of destruction across Northern Ireland, NI Water has said it will cost approximately £650,000 to repair the damage it caused to the Mourne Wall.A recently completed survey to assess the damage found there were 63 individual collapses along the wall across six mountains in the Éowyn brought winds of more than 90mph when it hit on 24 January and left thousands without red warning storm also caused a nine-week closure of Silent Valley Reservoir in the Mournes due to the damage, with access to many walking trails still restricted by NI Water. The full extent of the damage to the 22-mile Mourne Wall by Storm Éowyn was found after a survey, which began on 24 February, was completed on Water, which is in ownership of the wall, said the survey was "time consuming" due to the nature of the task to inspect each section of the iconic was found that 700m of the Mourne Wall was damaged with 63 individual collapses across six mountains, including Slieve Donard – Northern Ireland's tallest 2023, NI Water announced a £2.5m investment for phase two of the Mourne Wall Restoration one was completed in 2018 and saw more than 600 repairs two involved repairs to on Slieve Muck and Rocky Mountain. Most damage to areas that were not restored However, NI Water confirmed that only one section repaired through the restoration project collapsed due to Storm Éowyn."The estimated cost for repairs will be approximately £650k," NI Water told BBC News NI."NI Water is now preparing a business case and repairs may be included in the 2025/2026 Capital Delivery Programme subject to funding approval."Fortunately, the majority of the damage was to areas that have not been updated under the Mournes Restoration Project scheme."There was one section of repaired wall that was damaged by the collapse of the original wall alongside it."The Mournes is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and also suffered from more than 140 wildfires last of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Andrew Muir described the wildfires as "rural arson". What is the Mourne Wall? The Mourne Wall is 22-miles long and was built from 1904 to as 'the handrail of the Mournes' as it helps guide hikers, it is made of natural granite stone using only traditional dry stone walling construction was overseen by the Belfast City and District Water Commissioners and was designed to keep livestock from contaminating water Mourne Wall is synonymous with the Mourne Mountains and is Northern Ireland's longest listed building. In March 2024, NI Water completed the second phase of essential repairs on the 100 year old wall through the Mourne Wall Restoration than 300 repairs were completed across 15 mountains during phase two of the project, bringing the total number of collapses fixed on the structure to over 900 since the project began in 2017.
BBC News
17-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Tesco £100k home insurance quote leaves couple baffled
A couple were left reeling after getting a home insurance renewal quote of just under £100, Peter Cunningham and his wife Patricia from Newry have insured their bungalow with Tesco for a number of years paying £580 for last year's year's quote for £99,999 left the couple insurance and money services told BBC News NI that "incorrect information" had been sent to Dr Cunningham, but said the company was "unable to renew" his home insurance cover. When he received the renewal quote, Dr Cunningham said he thought the figure was a typo so called the Tesco helpline."The gentleman I spoke to in the customer call centre was able to confirm that I had been sent out a policy renewal. "I got another letter afterwards, sending me the policy documents. So if it was an error, it was an error times two."Patricia Cunningham said she saw the funny side: "I just laughed - I could not believe it."But she was also worried by what may have happened had the couple not paid attention to the routine letter."If we had been away on holiday and it had automatically renewed, I don't know what would happen," she said."It's absolutely, totally outrageous." Tesco insurance and money services said the letter had been an isolated error and it was "really sorry"."The error was recognised almost immediately and an updated letter sent explaining that we were unfortunately unable to renew the customer's home insurance cover this year," the statement continued."Insurance providers regularly review underwriting criteria to make decisions based on a number of risk factors. "Unfortunately, this meant that Dr Cunningham was declined for a renewal quote this year." 'Let themselves down' Dr Cunningham said he believed the refusal to provide insurance cover for the year ahead was because he made a claim after Storm Éowyn."First insurance claim we had in nine years, and it was a storm that nearly blew the whole island to a different position in the Atlantic. "So you could make the assumption that you're being penalised for making a claim."We had an electric surge which blew all the electrics in the house."Tesco Insurance were fantastic, dealt with it incredibly well. It was just over £3,000 and it was paid out very quickly."Tesco Insurance said the denial of a policy for this year was "not related to him having made a previous claim".It has left the couple "disappointed" in the company."They've let themselves down in my eyes in this situation and once trust is gone, trust is very difficult for them to rebuild up again," he added.
BBC News
03-03-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Glenkens severe weather reponse efforts put to the test
A staged mock emergency is to be held in the south of Scotland to test how well the local community is prepared for the impact of severe comes in the wake of Storm Éowyn in January which saw many parts of the region without power for several hour-long scenario will be played out at the Throughgate in Dalry between 11:00 and 12:00 on has been organised by the Loch Ken Trust, Dumfries and Galloway Climate Hub (DGCH), and the community council's resilience team. Jenna Cains, from DGCH, said they would make it as realistic as possible."It is going to be quite a chaotic scene - we hope not too alarming - but it is going to include a set-up of casualties and a vehicle and emergency services and the resilience team," she said."It will be a real test of what do you do when it really comes to the crunch - what are you prepared to do, what are you ready to do?"These are the thoughts that we need to be considering in the face of a changing climate." Ms Cains said she did not want to "give the game away" but the scenario could be quite similar to the issues faced by the area during Storm Éowyn."The bottom line is the communities in the Glenkens have quite a strong awareness of resilience and some of them have strong plans, such as Dalry," she said."It is really a test of those resilience plans and those resilience reactions as well."She said that needed to take into account everything that could happen in an extreme weather event - and in the days that followed it."Electricity can sometimes be knocked out for a number of days," she said."You need to really be aware of who are the vulnerable people in your community and what are their needs."Are there people in your community that need home carers, are there people who are vulnerable in different ways?"These are all the things that you need to be thinking about in your resilience plan."
BBC News
05-02-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Dáil returns to business after speaking rights ruling
Business has resumed in the Dáil, the Republic of Ireland's Parliament. Housing policy and Occupied Territories Bill are being raised as the parliament resumed on Wednesday is also due to here on the Government's response to Storm É Dáil had not sat for two weeks following a dispute over speaking rights for a group of Independent TDs (members of parliament). On Tuesday, Ceann Comhairle (Speaker) Verona Murphy ruled that the bloc of independent politicians cannot form a technical group for the purposes of speaking row resulted in chaotic scenes in the Dáil (Irish Parliament) before a new government was elected last TDs (MPs) had disrupted the nomination of Michaeál Martin as taoiseach (Irish prime minister).The new government is led by Fianna Fáil, and Fine Gael and these two major support of the independent TDs could be critical to the survival of the government during its term of office and the two main government parties had sided with the independent TDs in the speaking rights row. 'Pure fiction' On Wednesday, the opposition leader, Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald, accused Martin and tánaiste (Irish deputy prime minister) Simon Harris of repeating "pure fiction" during the General Election campaign that 40,000 new homes would be delivered in reply, the taoiseach said that the government was "extremely disappointed" that the actual number homes delivered in 2024 was lower than the official target of 33, he rejected the accusation that talking about 40,000 house completions during the election campaign was a "ploy" aimed at convincing voters that the country had "turned the corner on housing".Labour Leader Ivana Bacik said people have been forced to wake dead relatives by candle light due to the ongoing fallout from Storm Éowyn."It is unacceptable that 18,000 homes, farms and businesses are still without power and some won't have their electricity restored until the weekend," she Social Democrats said it was "completely unacceptable" that the government was "missing in action" following the destruction of Storm Éowyn last month.
BBC News
28-01-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Jersey Electricity helps restore power in Northern Ireland
Jersey Electricity (JE) has dispatched a team to Northern Ireland to help power restoration efforts after Storm Éowyn. The firm said the storm on Friday and into the weekend had left 650,000 households without electricity. It said the team of three overhead linesmen and two vehicles left Jersey to assist on said the team were providing "on-the-ground support, focusing on repairing overhead power lines and restoring critical supply to affected homes". More engineers were deployed to Northern Ireland to assist on Monday, JE said. The chief executive of JE, Chris Ambler, said: "Our thoughts are with all those affected by Storm Éowyn."While Jersey Electricity is a relatively small organisation in our sector, we believe that every contribution counts in times of crisis."It's a privilege to be able to give back and support our sector colleagues and communities in the UK, particularly after the invaluable help we received during Storm Ciarán."
