Power Still Out For Around 17,000 In New Hampshire: Storm Update

CONCORD, NH — It is a powerless Christmas in New Hampshire for thousands despite electric company efforts to restore power to utility customers.

Forecasters warned Friday's storm would bring freakish and dangerous weather. Their predictions came true as heavy rain and blustery winds hit central and southern New Hampshire, dumping at least two inches of rain. Wind gusts reached near-hurricane speeds in some areas. New snow blanketed the North Country while flooding was reported in some streams and rivers as well as the Seacoast.

As of 8 a.m. on Sunday, about 17,000 electricity customers remain without power.

Also Read

• Storm Outage Update: 94,000 Without Power In New Hampshire
• Heavy Rain, Gusty Wind, 40-Degree Temperature Shift: NH Weather Update
• ‘Dramatic Flash Freeze’ Could Make Pre-Christmas Travel Perilous

The New Hampshire Department of Safety’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management warned residents and visitors to use caution during the cleanup.

“Storm-related threats, such as downed power lines and debris, pose a danger,” HSEM Director Robert Buxton said. “Wear protective clothing and be cautious when cleaning up to avoid injury.”

Unitil reported Sunday it was continuing to make progress on restoring power to its customers after 22,000 were out on Friday.

“It’s Christmas morning and many of our customers are still waking up to no power," Unitil Media Relations Manager Alec O’Meara said. "We understand this has been a very difficult time for our customers, especially on Christmas and with frigid temperatures in the wake of the storm. Our crews have worked around the clock restoring power to tens of thousands of customers who lost power during Friday’s high winds. They’ll continue to work tirelessly throughout the event until all outages are restored. We appreciate the tireless work of our crews, municipal officials and the patience of our customers during this restoration process.”

The company will be closing its emergency operation centers on Sunday night.

NEWS 603 posted this video of the scene on Crestwood Drive in Concord after a tree sliced through a manufactured home on Dec. 23.

Concord police said Hopkinton Road between Fisk Road and Long Pond Road would be closed, possibly through Sunday evening, due to trees and wires down.

"The public is asked to seek alternative routes," said Lt. Robert Buelte, a watch commander with the Concord Police Department.

Eversource said it had 600 crews working to restore power to customers.

Crews from Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina, Virginia, and Canada, too, are in New Hampshire. The company said it expected to only have 10,000 customers without power by the end of Saturday night.

“With the support of outside crews from Texas to Canada, our dedicated employees are working urgently to clear damage, make repairs and restore power to our customers — who we know are growing increasingly concerned with the bitter cold and the important gatherings with friends and family taking place this weekend,” Eversource President of Electric Operations in New Hampshire Doug Foley said. “We remain focused on working with our community partners and public safety officials to support their critical needs, and with the support of additional crews from Massachusetts arriving today, our massive restoration effort will not cease until every customer has power.”

Crews have been busy responding to multiple storm-related calls tonight as a second burst of strong winds moved through the area around 5:30 p.m. There were numerous reports of trees and wires down in the area, including at this residence on Dow St. where a tree struck the home. pic.twitter.com/bOyMtA1Bpq
— Exeter Fire Dept. (@ExeterFire) December 23, 2022

Update: 8 a.m. on Dec. 25

Outage Updates

Eversource, the state’s largest utility company, reported about 10,000 customers without power.

The most extensive outages were less than 1,000 customers in Loudon. Outages of under 400 customers were reported in Amherst, New Boston, and Weare. Smaller outages were still being reported in Milford, Nashua, Windham, Londonderry, and several surrounding communities.

Our crews have been busy all day, restoring power to ~153K customers since the storm began. This afternoon’s wind gusts knocked out power to more customers (~82K currently out). We'll continue working around the clock until all of our customers have their power back. 📷: Hooksett pic.twitter.com/9c9rmQpRFR
— Eversource NH (@EversourceNH) December 24, 2022

The New Hampshire Election Co-Op had less than 6,300 customers without power, with the bulk of them in the Lakes Region.

Moultonborough has more than 900 customers without power, with smaller outages in Northwood, Meredith, and Epsom.

Here are photos crews took overnight of the conditions in Exeter and E. Kingston NH, as they were restoring customer power. pic.twitter.com/iwfmkSNIs0
— Unitil (@Unitil) December 24, 2022

About 1,100 Unitil customers were still without power, including less than 600 in Concord with 150 or fewer customers out in Allenstown, Boscawen, Bow, Canterbury, Chichester, Dunbarton, Epsom, Hopkinton, and Webster.

Unitil's Seacoast communities are reporting 52 customers or fewer out.

Restoration times were posted between 5 p.m. on Sunday and midnight on Monday. Some are still assessing, too.

Here are photos crews took overnight of the conditions in Exeter and E. Kingston NH, as they were restoring customer power. pic.twitter.com/iwfmkSNIs0
— Unitil (@Unitil) December 24, 2022

Liberty Utilities restored power to all its customers.

Despite the fear of many accidents due to the roads freezing overnight, public safety officials reported limited accidents.

Safety Suggestions

Buxton made the following safety recommendations:

• Stay informed by signing up for NH Alerts and monitoring National Weather Service radio or broadcast weather reports.
• Drivers should be alert for crews clearing debris and use caution.
• Use flashlights, rather than candles, for emergency lighting.
• Do not use a gas range or oven as an alternate source of heat.
• Only use a generator that has been wired to the house electrical service by a professional electrician.
• Never run a generator inside a building or in an enclosed space and keep them 10 feet away from buildings with the exhaust pointed away.

Learn more about power outage safety at ReadyNH.gov.

It will be significantly colder today with high temperatures only reaching the teens to lower 20s. Brisk southwesterly winds up to around 35 mph or so will send windchill values down to below zero in most locations. #MEwx #NHwx pic.twitter.com/UbL9NPJFnS
— NWS Gray (@NWSGray) December 24, 2022

The latest weather conditions can be found on the front page of every Patch.com site in the United States, including the 14 New Hampshire Patch news and community websites covering Amherst, Bedford, Concord, Exeter, Hampton, Londonderry, Manchester, Merrimack, Milford, Nashua, North Hampton, Portsmouth, Salem, Windham, and Across NH. Local weather reports for New Hampshire are posted on Sundays and Thursdays. Alerts are published when needed.

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