Unitil Corporation, (unitil.com), a provider of natural gas and electricity to customers in New England, is expecting the peak hours a winter storm forecasted to impact the area today to occur this afternoon and evening.
According to the most recent forecasts, as much as 10-12 inches of snow are possible in all service areas, with amounts exceeding a foot possible in inland areas. The snow is expected to have a wet, heavy consistency at the onset of the storm, but may transition to a drier snow as temperatures drop. Wet, heavy snow can stick to trees and limbs, causing otherwise healthy trees to fall onto electric infrastructure, causing outages.
"We are beginning to see the rains transition to snow in some inland areas and expect the heaviest bands of snow to occur in the late afternoon and evening hours. The chief hazards with the current forecast include hazardous driving conditions in the early hours, the volume of wet snow forecasted to fall and possible gusty winds in coastal areas," said Media Relations Manager, Alec O’Meara.
In light of the ongoing concerns regarding COVID-19, Unitil proactively secured additional third party crews to bolster resources. Crews will be standing by in all regions and both regional operation centers and Unitil’s call center will be staffed overnight to address any outage or public safety issues caused by the storm. Unitil will continue to monitor the forecast and is prepared to escalate its response further if conditions warrant doing so.
We recommend our customers remain similarly prepared by checking and making an inventory of the following items:
- Flashlights and fresh batteries
- A battery-operated radio and clock
- Bottled water, canned foods and a manual can opener
- A list of important phone numbers and a car charger for cell phones if applicable
- A first aid kit.
The snowy conditions have the potential to take wires to the ground. In the event of downed wires, assume all cables and wires that have fallen or dangling are energized and stay away. Be sure to avoid wet ground or puddles near a downed lined because 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.
"The chief hazards with the current forecast include hazardous driving conditions in the early hours, the volume of wet snow forecasted to fall and possible gusty winds in coastal areas."
Alec O’Meara, Media Relations Manager
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 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. You can also report outages online here.
