Unitil Corporation, (www.unitil.com), a provider of natural gas and electricity to customers in New England, plans to open its system emergency operation center Saturday morning in response to a major winter snowstorm impacting the region today and into tomorrow.
According to the most recent forecasts, as much as 8-12 inches of snow are possible in all regions. This snow is forecasted to be wet and heavy, which can stick to trees and limbs, causing damage.
“This will be a long duration event, and as the snow piles up it is likely that the crucial time will be during the early morning hours tomorrow,” Unitil Media Relations Manager Alec O’Meara said. “Opening our emergency operation center helps us to coordinate the crews and other additional resources we utilize during major weather events.”
Unitil has secured a compliment of approximately 80 crew resources as part of its preparations, a compliment that includes bucket, digger and tree crews, guides, damage assessors and wires down personnel. Crews will be ready to go for the overnight hours as well as in the morning during what are expected to be the peak hours of the event.
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 food and a manual can opener
- A list of important phone numbers and a car charger for cell phones if applicable
- A first aid kit.
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 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
You can also report outages online at http://www.unitil.com/report-outage.
