Unitil Corporation, (www.unitil.com), a provider of natural gas and electricity to customers throughout New England, is preparing for the potential of severe weather conditions in all of its service territories early next week due to Hurricane Joaquin.
According to the most recent forecasts tracking Joaquin, severe weather, including high winds and heavy rain, are possible for most of the eastern seaboard, including much of New England. Unitil has secured additional third party crews to provide assistance. We will continue to monitor the forecast and will be prepared to escalate its emergency operations if necessary.
“Small changes in the track of a hurricane can have a profound effect on its overall impact to the region,” Unitil Media Relations Manager Alec O’Meara said. “We will continue to monitor the track and intensity of the storm, and we advise our customers to do the same for the remainder of the week and this weekend.”
As with previous weather events, Unitil will be communicating throughout restoration efforts 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 and our Twitter feed (@Unitil), and will be providing real-time outage information online at www.unitil.com/map.
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.
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
You can also report outages online at http://www.unitil.com/report-outage.
