Battling storms living in crumbling mica homes

Thousands of homes in the Republic of Ireland are crumbling because of defective concrete blocks

A woman living in a crumbling home has said "all you can do is pray that no one gets hurt" when bracing for storms like Isha and Jocelyn.

Sharon O'Connor, from Malin in County Donegal, told BBC News NI that she "feared the house would come down" when strong winds struck on Sunday.

She is among a number of mica-affected homeowners in the Republic of Ireland.

Many houses in Counties Donegal, Mayo, Clare and Limerick are crumbling because of defective concrete blocks containing high levels of the mineral mica, which absorbs water causing walls to crack.

Further weather warnings have now been issued as the island braces for another storm on Tuesday.

Storm Jocelyn - which is the 10th named storm since the season began - is expected to cause further disruption as it approaches from the Atlantic.

'It was horrific'

Sharon O'Connor from Malin in County Donegal told BBC News NI that she "feared the house would come down" when strong winds struck on Sunday.

"We did fear it would come down, simply because of the amount of cracks and gaps that are open," she said.

"There are gaps everywhere, it's hard to explain just how bad it is."

Sharon O'Connor says she was scared her roof would collapse

Ms O'Connor said they can no longer let anyone in their family sleep in the upstairs bedrooms because of the extent of the cracks in their home.

"None of us slept last night - we were just so scared that the house was going to come down," she said on Monday.

Sharon O'Connor says she is worried about the potential impact of future storms

She added she thought at one point the roof was going to rip off simply because of how loud the wind was at one stage.

Mrs O'Connor said she fears more damage will be caused to her home as Storm Jocelyn makes landfall.

"I don't even want to think about it right now, to go through it all again, because all you can do is pray that no one gets hurt."

Last week, a draft report stated a help scheme for people living in crumbling homes needs to be improved.

It made six recommendations to the government's mica redress scheme.

'Chunks of your home in the garden'

Rory McLaughlin and his wife, Karen live between the village of Quigley's Point and Redcastle in County Donegal.

The pair awoke on Monday to see parts of their home scattered across their garden following the high winds that evening.

Mr McLaughlin said there was no real preparations they could take when a storm of that scale approaches.

He said their family had sadly become all too familiar with parts of their home simply breaking off, but described the severity of the storm as something that has "sped up the process of deterioration" to the outside of their house.

"This is sadly the season for storms and all you can to do is hope that things don't get too badly damaged.

"The integrity of the building is not what it should be, so a storm like that is obviously going to compound the underlying issues we have with mica.

"The house is undoubtedly more exposed than normal to the elements so that is to be expected."

Joy and James Beard say rain water was coming into their home through cracks during the storm

Joy Beard lives in Buncrana with her husband, James, and said she feared for their safety during the storm.

"We have been living in our home for 16 years and I at one stage last night had to seriously ask myself where the safest place for us to be in our house was," she said.

"You do fear the roof could cave in or that the floor gives way when weather like that hits, because of how bad a state the house is in.

"There are cracks on the inside and outside of our home, so when that heavy rain hits it comes right through, so we have to have buckets at the ready and just hope that it doesn't go near plug sockets or anything like that - it's ridiculous."

Joy Beard says her family home is no longer structurally sound

Ms Beard said so many families, like hers, will now have to go through this whole thing again when Storm Jocelyn hits.

"Our home, like so many others now sadly, is not structurally sound and we are living in unsafe houses," she explained.

"I know one family who have had to move their child out of their bedroom because they fear the gable wall in their room may come down."

Ms Beard said many families in the area feel their homes are no longer fit for purpose and said when any severe weather warning comes it makes many incredibly anxious and fearful for their family's safety.