Many In New Hampshire Still Without Power After October Storm

CONCORD, NH — The cleanup and power restoration efforts continue in New Hampshire after a freak late-October storm that delivered pounding rain, blustery wind gusts of up to 65 mph, and knocked out power to more than 450,000 electric customers in the state, according to utility companies and the state of New Hampshire. New Hampshire's Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management was activated began operations to "monitor the storm's impact and help local partners" at around 6 a.m. on Oct. 30, 2017. State officials said the storm produced one of the worst power outages in state history.

At just after 9 a.m., the org reported on Twitter that a little more than 140,000 remained without power.

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Eversource – the state’s largest electric company – reported that about 20 percent its customers remained without power.

Some of the company’s 109,000 outages included Londonderry – with nearly 3,300, or 29 percent – without power – and Windham where 70 percent of the community is still without power. Thousands of people are still without power in other Patch communities including Amherst (2,157), Bedford (2,024), Merrimack (2,702), Milford (1,766), Nashua (1,241), and North Hampton (334). Smaller outages were reported in Portsmouth (145) and many surrounding communities.

"We have already restored power to more than 100,000 customers, but we do anticipate that this will be a multi-day restoration effort, and we encourage everyone to take steps to prepare," said Eversource NH Vice President of Electric Operations Joe Purington said in a statement. "We have requested hundreds of additional line and tree crews to assist. It will take time to assess and repair damage caused by this storm, and our crews will continue to work as quickly as is safely possible to restore power to our customers."

Unitil reported about 5 percent of its customers – 5,099 – were also without power. More than 3,300 customers in the capital region and nearly 1,800 customers on the seacoast remain without power.

“We understand how challenging it is to be without power for an extended period of time and we appreciate our customers’ patience, especially as the weather clears and the temperature drops,” Unitil VP of Communications and Public Affairs Carol Valianti said. “Crews will be working overnight, with a fresh complement in the morning, to continue restoring power to remaining customers.”

The company stated that "a number of isolated outages and individual service issues have been reported due to damage caused by the storm" and that crews "will go from location to location to restore customers until all single services have been picked up."

Restoration times for Concord's 1,500-plus customers without power – up from less than 1,200 earlier this morning – is sometime between 11 p.m. tonight and 1 a.m. tomorrow morning. About 100 residents remain without power in Exeter with an estimated restoration time of between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Nov. 1. The company is still assessing how long it will take to restore power to the 109 remaining outages in Hampton.

Unitil is also assessing restoration for hundreds of customers in Canterbury and Chichester while Bow, Epsom, Hopkinton, Loudon, Salisbury, and Webster customers are expected to be restored by late tonight or early tomorrow.

Every hotel room in Concord was booked last night, according to online booking sites and hoteliers. Manchester hoteliers were also reporting that capital region residents were booking rooms last night in the Queen City.

@JimCantore Sherburne Dam in Sherburne, NH (just east of Gorham). Town FD reports dam may fail. pic.twitter.com/FJid5Ni8iO
— Chris (@cooperhill) October 30, 2017

Liberty Utilities is reporting about 4 percent of its customers without power including nearly 800 customers in Salem, nearly 50 in Windham, and more than 500 in Pelham.

"Crews working to clear fallen trees + wires," the company stated on Twitter. "No est. time of restoration but crews are safely working to get power on quickly."

Flooding at Mad River Damn in Campton, NH pic.twitter.com/Kw5A9V7N1D
— A.J. Mastrangelo (@AJ_Mast_WX) October 30, 2017

New Hampshire Electric Co-op reported about 32 percent of its customers, more than 26,000, were without power including 135 in Londonderry.

#BREAKING: Flash flooding of the Saco River in Bartlett, NH. This storm dumped 5 inches in Bartlett. pic.twitter.com/DVZu6R7Mbr
— WCSH 6 (@WCSH6) October 30, 2017

A number of roads are closed around the state. Route 1 in Hampton was closed for about two hours this morning.

Drive carefully. Expect debris. Never drive over power lines or water covered roads. Turn Around Don't Drown. #NHstorm #ReadyNH
— NH HSEM (@NH_HSEM) October 30, 2017

The Mount Washington Observatory reported wind gusts of 131 mph during the peak of the overnight storm. The Isles of Shoals reported 78 mph. Manchester Airport Grenier reported 59 mph while Concord's airport reported 51 mph.

Disaster Prep

For the future – because there is much you can do right now – the Red Cross has a number of tips for power outages and disaster prep.

The New Hampshire Patch network of sites will be updating this post with the latest information.