After Storm Éowyn: The Reengineer Monitor #11

Heathrow third runway, DeepSeek, China emissions - and more!

Workers for Northern Ireland Electricity clear fallen debris and repair power lines after Storm Éowyn. Photo by Aurora Photographic Agency.

We are still getting over the effects of Storm Éowyn here in Belfast. But, to begin, allow me to highlight a story I wrote for Atmos, which was published earlier this week. It is about the rise (geddit?) of amphibious houses, which rest on the ground most of the time yet are buoyant, allowing them to float in the event of a flood.

SPECIAL: Storm Éowyn

Storm Éowyn rocked Ireland, Scotland and the north of England last week, causing damage to property, interruptions to water supplies and power cuts affecting many thousands of homes. Some people were still without electricity six days later.

The Irish Times reports that donors in Romania shipped generators to the Republic of Ireland in an effort to help people regain power. Plus, 200 electricity network contractors travelled from the UK, Austria, Finland, France, Netherlands and Germany.

I’ll add that my own house and garden, here in Belfast, suffered minor damage during the storm – as did many properties in our neighbourhood! Thankfully, our power never went out. But I can report that Éowyn, perhaps more than any other storm in recent years, has led some local people to question how their homes will stand up to potentially even more extreme weather in the future.

It’s worth highlighting the resilience some folks showed in the face of adversity. A number of electric vehicle (EV) owners were able to get their lights back on by connecting their homes to car batteries, reports the Republic of Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ.

And one Scottish MP praised the generosity and solidarity demonstrated by her local community in Cowdenbeath and Kirkcadly.