More than 370 households in the Monadnock region were still without power on Monday afternoon, after a nor’easter knocked out service to tens of thousands of customers over the weekend.
By Monday morning, Eversource had restored power to approximately 132,800 customers, according to Eversource Media Relations Specialist Kaitlyn Woods. Of those customers, about 36,500 were out of power for only a few minutes, and power was able to be restored using the utility’s smart switches, which allow Eversource to isolate outages and redirect power from a backup source.
About 600 households locally were still without power Monday morning before crews working to address those issues were able to restore power to several hundred households by Monday afternoon, with work ongoing.
Crews were still working at press time Monday to repair lines to restore power in towns throughout the state, with some customers not expected to have power returned until sometime Tuesday.
“Many of the outages we’re working to restore in this area are related to damage to customers’ service lines, which involves a more time-intensive process to repair,” Woods said. “We expect to substantially complete our restoration effort by midnight [Monday], but will likely continue working through some single-customer outages [Tuesday].”
Eversource has called in hundreds of additional out-of-state crews from Connecticut and Massachusetts to deal with the reported damage.
Antrim police responded to three car accidents on Route 9 throughout the day on Saturday, Lt. Brian Lord said, mostly fender-benders with no injuries reported. Hancock police responded to two different calls for cars off the road on Saturday, also with no injuries reported.
Jaffrey police were kept busy throughout Saturday and Sunday with several minor crashes and reports of downed wires.
Most seriously, police responded to a crash on Saturday at 8:20 p.m., where a vehicle had hit a tree. The driver, Dylan Jewell, 29, of Keene, reported he had slid off the road due to icy conditions. He was uninjured. His 2003 Honda SV was towed to his parent’s residence.
On Sunday, police received a report of a 2013 Honda CRV that was struck by a plow sometime around 3 a.m. that morning. The driver of the plow did not stop. Police confirmed the vehicle had moderate rear-end damage. Police are attempting to determine the driver of the plow vehicle.
Jaffrey police also responded to a plethora of reports of cars off the road and minor crashes attributed to the slippery conditions. The calls began at 10:50 a.m. on Saturday, when Jaffrey police responded to the Peterborough town line on Route 202 for a report of a multiple vehicle crash involving a tractor-trailer unit. According to published reports, a Milford man received minor injuries when he was struck by a sliding vehicle while trying to assist a vehicle stuck in the roadway on Route 202 in Peterborough. Jaffrey police assisting at the scene determined there were no serious injuries.
While responding to the tractor-trailer call, Jaffrey police discovered a vehicle off the road that had slid off Mountain Road at Wolf’s Way due to the snowy conditions. Police requested a tow truck respond to assist.
While on route to check on a report of a vehicle off the road, police came across a minor crash on School Street at Main Street. A car had slid into the back of truck that had lost control and slid off the road. The drivers were exchanging information and did not need assistance.
At 2:30 p.m., police responded to River Street near the Rindge town line for a report of two vehicles off the road. Police found one vehicle slid off the road due to the snowy conditions, but was undamaged. A second vehicle attempted to pull the first vehicle back onto the road, but also became stuck. The vehicles were assisted back onto the road by a friend and a tow truck.
If you are in a situation where you are unable to shelter in place in your home due to loss of power or heat, the State Department of Safety is recommending additional safety precautions due to COVID-19.
If you are unable to stay in your home, consider alternatives where you can safely segregate from other people not in your immediate household, such as a hotel. If you need to share space with people outside your immediate household, the state recommends maintaining social distance, wearing masks in public spaces, and frequent handwashing.
When preparing an emergency kit, include at least two facemasks or cloth face coverings for each family member and hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol.
“Everyone is encouraged to take time to prepare in case your family needs to find alternative housing,” said New Hampshire Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director Jennifer Harper. “Have a plan so you know what to do and where to go should temperatures in your home get too cold.”