WALTHAM, MA – As a powerful storm continues to impact the region today, National Grid has nearly 2,000 personnel in Massachusetts responding to power outages caused by downed limbs, trees and poles. The widespread storm brought high winds, heavy rain and some peak gusts of up to 60 mph, leading to damage throughout the state ahead of a busy holiday weekend.

As the storm moves across the region Friday, persistent high winds will hamper restoration efforts. Crews can’t safely restore power while up in buckets while high winds remain present. In addition, temperatures are expected to drop significantly throughout Friday. The storm is expected to clear on Saturday.

“We know losing power can be frustrating for our customers, particularly on a busy holiday weekend,” said Tanya Moniz-Witten, Vice President of New England Electric Operations.  “We have crews on the ground throughout Massachusetts, making repairs and working to restore power in challenging conditions as quickly and safely as possible. We will not stop until every customer has their electricity back.”

Public safety is always the first priority. National Grid continues to collaborate with emergency officials to respond to 911 emergencies and wires down calls, and restore critical customers, such as hospitals. The company is also collaborating with state and municipal leaders on a coordinated response effort that focuses on public safety and then restoration.

Nearly 2,000 field personnel, including crews from Texas, Mississippi and Florida, are responding to emergency 911 calls, assessing damage, clearing trees, and making repairs to electrical infrastructure. Damage assessment crews will patrol infrastructure to obtain a detailed scope, scale and nature of network damage. This enables the restoration to proceed safely and efficiently and helps us restore power to customers more quickly.

National Grid is currently updating estimated restoration times for all impacted areas and will continue to do so throughout Friday. It's normal for outage numbers and restoration times to fluctuate. The numbers can go up and down as an ongoing storm causes new outages and/or as we de-energize lines to make conditions safe for repairs and restoration. Additionally, there could be new outages that occur that are separate from storm-related outages.  

National Grid has restored power to more than 39,000 customers since the storm began Thursday night. Restoration work is continuing as conditions allow.  Peak wind gusts are still in the 40-50 mph range in some areas.  Strong winds are expected to continue through the day, so additional outages could occur.

As of 12 p.m., about 39,000 customers were without power. More than half of the outages thus far have been in the Merrimack Valley area.  As always, National Grid urges customers to stay safe, and provides several ways to stay connected and up-to-date on the latest safety and restoration information.

The Company offers the following tips and reminders:   

Customers Should Stay Connected:  

• Report power outages at www.nationalgridus.com or call 1-800-465-1212.
• Use your mobile device to track outage information and storm-related safety tips through National Grid’s mobile site accessible at www.ngrid.com/mobile.
• Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram; we post all the latest storm and restoration updates.
• Track outages and estimated restoration times at www.nationalgridus.com/outage-central
• To stay connected during storms and outages, text to 64743 using any of the below commands.
  • REG to sign up for text alerts
  • OUT to report an outage
  • SUM followed by your town, county, or state to get a summary of outages in your area
  • HELP for the full list of commands 

Stay safe: 

• Never touch downed power lines, and always assume that any fallen lines are live electric wires. If you see one, report it immediately to National Grid or your local emergency response organization. 
• Power problems can sometimes interrupt public water supply systems or disable well pumps, so it’s an especially good idea to keep a supply of bottled drinking water handy, as well as some canned food. 
• People who depend on electric-powered life support equipment, such as a respirator, should let National Grid know. To register as a life support customer, call the company’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-322-3223. 
• Check on elderly family members, neighbors and others who may need assistance during an outage period.   

Electric safety:

• If you use a generator to supply power during an outage, be sure to operate it outdoors. Before operating generators, disconnect from National Grid’s system by shutting off the main breaker located in the electric service panel. Failure to do this could jeopardize the safety of line crews and the public. 
• If you lose power, turn off any appliances that were on when the power went off, but leave one light on so you will know when power is restored. 

Gas Safety

• If you suspect a natural gas leak:

• Get Out - All occupants should leave the house immediately.  Do not use the telephone or light switches for any reason.
• Call Us – After leaving the house and reaching a safe environment, call the National Grid 24-hour gas emergency numbers:
• New England:1-800-640-1595
• Stay Out - Do not return to your home until National Grid tells you it is safe.

Reminder: It’s not safe to work in an elevated bucket during periods of increased wind gusts. Our line workers begin restoration work only when conditions are deemed safe. 

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