Who needs an extra plan for storms and outages?

Start with what would stop working

Start with your own daily routine. Write down what you need and who could help if something became unavailable: warmth, safe water, meals, medication, communication and leaving the building. Make it a shared planning session with the people who can help. That is the approach in the official emergency booklet: consider your particular risks and put your plan on paper.^[4]

Pick the questions on this page that fit your home and work through them at your own pace. You do not need to fit a label before making a plan.

Medical equipment users should register with their energy supplier and agree a backup plan with their healthcare team.^[3] Also plan around private wells, electric heating, living alone, shared buildings, babies and animals.^[4][5][6][7]

If you use electrical medical equipment

Contact the company that sends your electricity bill. Ask to register as a vulnerable customer and explain which equipment you depend on. Under the CRU supplier handbook, the Priority Services Register is for people critically dependent on electrically powered equipment. The Special Services Register covers people particularly vulnerable to winter disconnection because of age or health circumstances.^[1][8]

Registration is free. Your supplier sends relevant details to ESB Networks for its vulnerable-customer register. Keep contact numbers current and agree how someone you trust will help during an outage.^[1][3]

Take these questions to your healthcare team and agree the answers before an outage:^[3]

• What backup does the device need?
• How will you keep its approved battery charged?
• Who should you contact if it stops?
• At what point should you move to another location?

These registers provide protections, support and communications. They do not make the network immune to storm damage. Do not rely on registration as a promise that your house will have uninterrupted electricity or be restored first.^[1][3]

If safe water is medically essential

Uisce Éireann has its own registers, separate from your energy supplier’s. Its Priority Services Register is for critical medical dependence on water. Its Special Services Register supports customers with additional age, disability or communication needs.^[2]

Register with Uisce Éireann and nominate another contact if helpful. Discuss water-outage and contamination plans with your healthcare team. A water notice is particularly important if your treatment depends on a safe supply.^[2][1]

Private wells and group water schemes

If your well uses an electric pump, losing power stops that pump. Keep a drinking-water reserve and ask your well contractor what else in your system needs electricity. The pump dependency is a technical point described by a government health authority; the EPA provides the Irish guidance on water safety.^[9][6]

Private well owners are responsible for their supplies. The EPA recommends testing at least annually and advises householders to contact the local authority for well-protection advice. A public-supply all-clear does not establish that your own well is safe.^[6][10]

For a group scheme, make a call to the operator part of your preparation. Keep their contact details. Ask how warnings will reach you, what happens during a power failure and where to get alternative water. Local authorities regulate group schemes and other regulated private supplies.^[10]

Heat-pump and all-electric homes

Heat pumps use electricity for heating and hot water. Treat the resulting loss of heat as part of your outage plan. Oil and gas boilers can also depend on electrical power, so the same question matters in those homes.^[5][11][12]

Put blankets and warm clothing within reach and decide where you could go if you cannot remain safely warm. Do not assume that buying an outdoor heater solves an indoor heating problem: outdoor fuel-burning equipment must not be brought inside.^[4][12]

Older people living alone

Agree regular contact and a practical check on warmth and meals. HSE advises checking on older people during winter, when they are more vulnerable to hypothermia. Ask the GP or public health nurse about local support if making meals is difficult.^[7]

Make the plan usable: write numbers clearly, put a torch beside the bed and keep essentials accessible. Discuss it with the person, including who they would like contacted, rather than leaving a plan only someone else can use.^[4][13]

Renters and apartment residents

Getting to know your building is a useful preparation project. Before severe weather, work through these household-planning questions with your landlord or building manager:^[4]

• Who handles an urgent fault outside office hours?
• Where is your home’s water shut-off, and is it shared?
• How would someone needing assistance leave if the lift were unavailable?
• What is the agreed emergency procedure for the building?

Uisce Éireann specifically advises apartment residents to know how to access a shared stopcock and consider neighbours when isolating water. Do not turn an unfamiliar shared valve without advice.^[14]

In supported or temporary accommodation, speak to the service provider about emergency arrangements. Keep a compact essentials bag if storage space is limited.^[4]

Farms

Make a separate plan for livestock and the farm’s working systems. Teagasc advises securing buildings and loose items before storms, sheltering stock, avoiding risks during the event and checking feed, water and hazards afterwards.^[15]

Include frozen water pipes, troughs and milking equipment in winter planning. Teagasc identifies all of these as potential problems in severe cold. Discuss the practical backup arrangements with your farm adviser and electrician before they are needed.^[16]

Babies and pets

Give the babies’ and animals’ supplies their own turn in your kit check. Include nappies, feeding supplies, medicines, pet food and animal-care arrangements. If you use formula, the official checklist recommends an extra supply of ready-to-feed formula.^[4]

Powdered formula needs safe preparation even if the water comes from a bottle. Use the water-outage guide and HSE instructions rather than mixing powder with room-temperature water.^[17]

During a boil notice, give pets boiled and cooled water. Ask your vet about species-specific needs, medication or livestock water concerns.^[18]

Booklet material used: household risk assessment, accessible supplies, care arrangements and supported-accommodation planning are adapted from Be Emergency Ready.^[4]

prepared.ie is independent and is not affiliated with the Government of Ireland, Met Éireann, ESB or any agency. In an emergency, call 112 or 999.^[4]