Paddy McLauglin, chairman of Cushendall Community Resilience Group said their village often suffers the brunt of severe weather in Northern Ireland
After years of being cut off from the rest of Northern Ireland when severe weather strikes, residents of a coastal village in County Antrim have developed a unique emergency survival plan.
The recently-formed Cushendall Community Resilience Group, have devised an extreme weather coping strategy that would make Bear Grylls proud.
Formed by the local community, the group will provide assistance when relief and emergency services cannot get through.
Businessman and chair of the group, Paddy McLaughlin, said that Cushendall often suffers the brunt of severe weather in Northern Ireland.
'Can do' attitude
Flooding, blizzards and heavy snowfall, not to mention power cuts, mean that the population of 1,500 people are often on their own when the weather is at its worst.
"Over the past three years, Cushendall has had to cope with more than the usual amount of flooding, tidal surges and extreme winter weather," said Mr McLaughlin.
"When the snow is really bad, even the emergency services can't get through.
"We have a lot of long power failures which, in winter, is especially dangerous for elderly and vulnerable people."
He added that although they were a close-knit community, being at the mercy of the weather often left people feeling "alone and isolated".
"There are a lot of people in the area who have valuable skills that could be put to use in an emergency, so we decided to do something to help ourselves," he said.
"The Cushendall community has a 'can do' attitude, so it didn't take long to get the group up and running.
Una Rowan, Cushendall Community Resilience Group and Bernadette Delargy, Cushendall Development Group, with the new generator
"There are eight core members and we can call on up to 40 others. All are volunteers.
"Many are highly-trained, through working with agencies such as the fire service, health service and mountain rescue. I volunteer with the RNLI, as do some others."
The group liaised with the emergency services and devised a co-ordinated emergency plan that can be put into action, whatever the weather.
They have also obtained a generator so that heat, light and a warm meal will be available when there is no electricity.
"Because we have so many power cuts in Cushendall, a generator is vital," said Mr McLaughlin.
The advice booklet created by Cushendall Community Resillience Group
"Without it, it's pointless bringing people to an emergency rest centre - you can't make them a cup of tea and you can't keep them warm."
'Key contacts'
Informing the community of what to do and what help was available locally was also important to the group, which is part of Cushendall District Development Group.
"We received a £9,990 grant from the Big Lottery Fund to buy a generator and produce an emergency plan booklet," he said.
"The booklet contains key contacts to get in touch with in an emergency and identifies the emergency rest centres. It has been distributed to local people via the village shop, medical centre and other outlets.
"It's reassuring for people to know that in times of need there's help available when the outside world can't get in."
