Unitil Corporation, a provider of electricity and natural gas to customers in New England, is anticipating a multi-day restoration effort as crews work to restore power to those impacted by a spring nor’easter that continues to bring waves of heavy snow, sleet and strong winds to the region.
As of 12 p.m., nearly 18,460 customers were without power in New Hampshire with only a few in Massachusetts. Approximately 28,000 customers have been impacted by the coastal storm since it moved into the area on Wednesday.
“This storm system has brought multiple hazards and has resulted in numerous wires down and broken utility poles as the combination of heavy, wet snow and gusty winds has taken down trees and snapped branches throughout our service territory. It’s important for people to stay away from any downed wires as they may still be energized and pose a safety concern,” Unitil External Affairs Director Alec O’Meara said. “Unfortunately, the strong winds continue to create challenging working conditions and have hampered restoration efforts in some instances. Road closures due to coastal flooding have also made it difficult for crews to access some affected areas. We remain focused on bringing all customers back online as quickly and safely as possible and will continue to work closely with municipal emergency first responders to assist with public safety issues.”
Unitil’s system and regional Emergency Operations Centers remain open to coordinate the company’s response to this storm, which is expected to continue into this evening with more bands of heavy snow and strong wind gusts up to 55 mph, especially in the Seacoast region. Because this is a long-duration weather event, customers should be prepared for the possibility of power being restored and lost again in some impacted locations.
A complete town-by-town breakdown of outages with assessing status and updated estimates of restoration times when available can be found at unitil.com/map.
Unitil proactively secured a complement of internal and third-party crews in advance of the storm to assist with any restoration work.
High wind gusts have the potential to damage trees and tree branches, which can in turn bring poles and wires to the ground. We urge people to always assume all fallen or dangling cables and wires are energized and stay away. Be sure to avoid wet ground or puddles near a downed line, as water conducts electricity. In addition, keep away from all flooded and debris-laden areas because they may be hiding downed lines. Stay in a safe place and avoid driving in damaged areas so you don’t interfere with rescue and restoration efforts.
Localized flooding may occur as part of this event. Flooding and standing water in your home can pose serious hazards to your personal safety and property. Wet electrical wiring is extremely hazardous, and flooding can be harmful to your natural gas service equipment. More information on how to stay safe in flooding conditions is available at https://unitil.com/flooding.
Unitil will be communicating throughout the event through Public Service Announcements (PSAs), our website, our customer call center and through the media. We also encourage customers to follow along with our storm updates via Facebook, our Twitter feed (@Unitil) and we will be providing real-time outage information online atinformation online at unitil.com/map.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR MEDIA:
Unitil asks that when reporting outage information, outlets time stamp the information. Outage numbers change hourly and we wish to make sure the information customers receive is consistent and understandable. Re-Tweets and re-posting of old information without referencing a time can create confusion.
Customers experiencing outages should call 1-888-301-7700 or report online at unitil.com/report-outage.
