Unitil Corporation, (www.unitil.com), a provider of natural gas and electricity to customers in New England, is preparing for the potential for high winds throughout the day on Monday.
According to the most recent forecasts, wind gusts of 40-50 miles per hour with peak gusts exceeding 50 mph are possible in all regions all day Monday and into the late evening hours. Gusts of this level not only have the potential to cause outages by pushing trees onto electric infrastructure, but can also delay restoration efforts for safety reasons.
Bucket trucks aren’t able to extend arms upwards safely in high winds, meaning there may be periods during the day tomorrow where restoration efforts must be halted. On top of that, hazardous conditions have the potential to remain in effect for an extended period of time, meaning areas may lose power again after getting restored."
Alec O’Meara, Unitil Media Relations Manager
Based on the current forecast, Unitil has secured additional crews in advance of the storm and is planning to open up its Emergency Operations Center Monday morning in advance of peak wind conditions to coordinate restoration efforts, should outages occur. Unitil will continue to monitor the forecast in the hours leading up to the wind event and will be prepared to further adjust its response plan as needed.
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.
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.
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 www.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 the following toll-free numbers:
- For the NH Seacoast Area: 1-800-582-7276
- For the NH Capital Area: 1-800-852-3339
- For Massachusetts: 1-888-301-7700
