Unitil Corporation, (unitil.com), a provider of natural gas and electricity to customers in New England, is preparing for the potential for impacts from a rainstorm passing through the area tonight and into tomorrow.
According to the most recent forecasts, heavy rain and wind gusts of 45-50 mph with peak gusts of 55 mph are possible today and into tonight. While leaves are off the trees in most areas, the heavy rains may soften the ground and make it easier for trees to fall onto electric infrastructure, causing outages. Unitil is prepared to address issues, should they occur. In light of the ongoing concerns regarding COVID 19, Unitil proactively secured additional third party crews to bolster resources.
"Crews will be staged in all Unitil regions during the overnight hours and prepared to respond, should outages occur. We will be closely monitoring the forecast and conditions in the field, and we will be prepared to escalate our response further if warranted."
Media Relations Manager, Alec O’Meara
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 windy 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.
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 at unitil.com/report-outage.
