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Families suffer devastating damage to their homes from Storm Eowyn

Storm Eowyn wreaked havoc across Ireland and parts of the UK causing power cuts and widespread damage.

Lynn Rusk
Saturday 25 January 2025 14:50 EST
Damage to the Egan home caused by Storm Eowyn (Shane Egan/PA)
Damage to the Egan home caused by Storm Eowyn (Shane Egan/PA)

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Families in Ireland have described the devastating damage to their homes after Storm Eowyn wreaked havoc throughout the country.

Shane Egan, 33, from Ballinasloe, Co Galway said his family was lucky their house did not collapse on top of them as record-breaking winds caused destruction and power shortages across Ireland and parts of the UK.

Mr Egan, a train driver, was in Manchester at a football match with his oldest son on Thursday night when he received a message from his wife Emma who described hearing an almighty crash.

ā€œMy wife was in the house with my other two sons and at about three oā€™clock in the morning, she heard a big crash and the house shook,ā€ Mr Egan told the PA news agency.

ā€œShe texted me again at five in the morning saying, ā€˜Shane, Iā€™m so scaredā€™.

ā€œThe doors in the house were opening and slamming. The wardrobes were moving, everything was shaking.ā€

Ms Egan, 35, who was unable to go outside to assess the damage that night due to safety concerns, received a knock on her door on Friday morning from a neighbour telling her her house was ā€œfalling downā€.

She went outside to discover a pile of bricks and slates on the ground after the gable end of their home had given way.

Mr Egan, who didnā€™t get home until 11pm on Friday night, said they were lucky it collapsed in the way it did, otherwise, his family would have ended up beneath the rubble.

ā€œWeā€™re lucky it didnā€™t collapse from the bottom in,ā€ he said.

ā€œIt looks like it fell in one piece, the whole lot.ā€

If it had collapsed in another way ā€œthey would have been underneathā€, he added.

Mr Egan says he has been blown away by an outpouring of support from the Ballinasloe community.

Local people and friends have been helping the couple to make the building safe ahead of Storm Herminia, which is due to hit Ireland and the UK on Sunday.

A GoFundMe page set up by a friend has raised more than 9,000 euros (Ā£7,500) to help with materials, tools and rebuilding work.

The family has been told their insurance company will send out assessors next week to survey the damage.

ā€œOne of my friends is out there on a cherry picker. Theyā€™re getting ready to start temporary repair work because thereā€™s another storm promised tomorrow night or Monday,ā€ said Mr Egan.

ā€œThe room underneath my youngest sonā€™s room, that was ruined because all the rain got in and seeped through the ceiling.

ā€œYou donā€™t really see how many people are around you until something like this happens.ā€

Johanna Krijnsen, 34, from Lisdonvarna, Co Clare, said parts of her roof had blown off in the storm.

Ms Krijnsen, originally from Utrecht in the Netherlands, said around 10 trees on their land have been ripped up, one of their polytunnels has folded in half and they are still without power.

ā€œThis really was the biggest storm weā€™ve ever experienced here in Ireland,ā€ the mother-of-four told PA.

ā€œWeā€™re on the West Coast, about 20 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean. I think we got the full smack of it.ā€

Ms Krijnsen said her husband has attempted to repair their roof with plastic and old tiles, while they wait for a roofer to fix it properly next week.

The couple, who have an eight-year-old daughter with Downā€™s Syndrome and a five-year-old son who has non-verbal autism, are trying their best to manage with the disruption and power cuts.

ā€œOur son is so used to his routines and theyā€™re just not there at the moment,ā€ said Ms Krijnsen.

ā€œSo that makes it hardest for him emotionally.ā€

Ms Krijnsen has also started a GoFundMe page to help to raise funds fix their roof and to replace their polytunnel as it is essential for her childrenā€™s learning and development.

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