National Grid: Gas Restoration Will Take Several Days

NEWPORT, R.I. -- National Grid said Tuesday that gas service restoration efforts in Newport could take upwards of a week. During that time, classes will not be held at Newport Public Schools, which have no heat.

Gov. Gina Raimondo, Newport Mayor Jamie Bova and National Grid Rhode Island President Tim Horan held a press conference Tuesday morning to give an update on the situation. Newport County remains under a state of emergency following Monday's natural gas service outage.

"Right now, the primary message remains that it is not safe to stay in your homes," Raimondo said. "I know a lot of people toughed it out in their houses last night, and we want to make sure everyone has somewhere to go today."

Bova said that since Newport schools lack heat, classes will be canceled for the remainder of the week.

"It's a safety issue," she said. "There's nothing else we can do."

Meanwhile, Raimondo said, plans are being made to address issues of food insecurity and child care.

"We know that with a lot of these students, if they aren't at school, they aren't eating," Raimondo said. "We're currently working on a plan to address that and child care issues, and expect to know more later today or tomorrow."

So far, Raimondo said, there have been reports of no major injuries, hospitalizations or fatalities associated with the outage, but she stressed the continued danger of the situation.

"Hypothermia can set in at 40 to 45 degrees, so you can't continue to stay in your homes," Raimondo said. "Residents need to plan for a multi-day event."

READ MORE: Five Ways To Stay Safe During The Gas Outage

Warming shelters have been set up at Gaudet Middle School on Aquidneck Avenue in Middletown, at Donovan Manor on 19 Chapel St. in Newport, and at the University of Rhode Island in the Memorial Union and Ryan Center.

Hotel rooms are also available across the area. Residents who pay for hotel rooms will be reimbursed by National Grid, and vouchers are available for those who cannot afford to pay for a hotel room upfront. At this time, Raimondo said there are 11,000 available hotel rooms in Rhode Island, so there is more than enough room for everyone affected.

As of midday Tuesday, no one had gone to the warming centers at the University of Rhode Island, according to Tony Laroche of the URI Communications Department. URI's EMA director was on-site throughout the night on Monday until the Red Cross took over operations of the shelter on Tuesday morning.

A National Grid service center has been set up at Gurney's Resort on Goat Island. Anyone who needs help in finding shelter is encouraged to go there for help.

Horan said the restoration process requires that National Grid technicians enter every single home to shut off gas, which could take two to three days. Once every meter has been shut off, technicians will begin returning to every home and turning meters back on, which could take another three to five days.

"It's a safety issue--it's critical that we take these steps," Horan said. "We cannot restore gas service until every single home has been shut off first."

Unlike in the event of an electrical outage, each home must be individually addressed. If each home is not shut off, the sudden increase in gas flow poses the risk of an explosion.

National Grid is attempting to contact all residents to ensure they are home when technicians come to shut off the gas. As a last resort, technicians will enter unoccupied homes accompanied by a police officer.

"This is not the first resort," Bova said. "We're making every effort to contact people first."

Photo Credit: Rhode Island National Grid