BERLIN, Conn. (Feb. 25, 2016) – With winds gusting over 75 miles-per-hour in some locations and torrential rain soaking a majority of Connecticut, Wednesday night’s powerful storm caused extensive damage across the state, interrupting electric service to more than 89,500 Eversource customers. After assessing the widespread and vast destruction to the electric system, Eversource expects to have power restored for a majority of customers by 11:30 p.m. Friday night.
The company’s line and tree crews have been working non-stop and have already restored power to more than 50,000 since the storm began. Eversource crews from Massachusetts and New Hampshire, as well as contractors from New York and Pennsylvania, will soon be assisting with the restoration effort.
“The wet ground from the heavy downpours coupled with the strong winds last night caused trees and limbs to fall, tearing down power lines and utility poles across our service territory,” said Peter Clarke, senior vice president of emergency preparedness at Eversource. “We recognize being without electricity for any length of time is difficult, and we assure our customers that we are focused on restoring service as quickly and safely as possible to all those affected.”
The company’s early focus is on clearing blocked roads, making downed wires safe and restoring the largest areas of outages. The company restores outages affecting the largest number of customers first, so outages that affect a smaller number of customers may take longer, as they are oftentimes more labor-intensive.
Eversource crews and contractors are focused on a safe and speedy restoration and the company reminds the public to stay clear of downed lines and to call 9-1-1 to report them immediately. Anyone experiencing a power outage should report it to Eversource at 1-800-286-2000, or on Eversource.com.
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