More Aid For Merrimack Valley Gas Explosion Victims

NORTH ANDOVER, MA -- Officials in North Andover were handing out gift cards to residents impacted by the Sept. 13 gas explosions at Town Hall Wednesday. The gift cards came courtesy of the Greater Lawrence Disaster Relief Fund, which has been the central collection point for donations following the disaster, and were available to any of the more than 8,500 Andover, North Andover and Lawrence residents who had prolonged gas service outages following the explosions.

The fund is administered by the Essex County Community Foundation. In addition to stipends sent out this week to anyone who did not have heat and hot water restored by Thanksgiving, the fund is offering additional resources to impacted residents. Case managers have been assigned to work in all three communities and can help residents access a variety of different resources, as well as answer questions about financial aid.

The gas explosions killed one man, injured more than two dozen and damaged or destroyed more than 130 buildings in the three communities. Thousands of residents were left without heat and hot water for months following the explosion as Columbia Gas of Massachusetts worked on the first phase of the restoration effort. The full restoration is expected to last into October 2019.

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Patch file photo via Shutterstock.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).