Updated information on the Halloween Nor'Easter from Durham Town Administrator Todd Selig:
Dear Members of the Community,
As you know, a Halloween Nor’Easter flew in on its broomstick Saturday evening dumping around 6-7 inches of heavy wet snow upon the Seacoast area. Other parts of New Hampshire received even larger amounts of accumulation. The majority of Durham, Lee, and Madbury are still without power on Monday, October 31, 2011.
Public Service Company of New Hampshire indicated early this morning that the number customers state-wide without power as of 5 am on Monday was about 191,000, down from a peak of 237,000 on Sunday afternoon.
PSNH reports that crews worked state-wide with state and local public works officials to reopen roads that were blocked by downed trees and power lines and performed damage assessment to help expedite the remainder of the restoration effort.
Air patrols were conducted Sunday to help pinpoint problems in off-road areas that will have to be addressed.
PSNH indicated that more than 50 major circuits, lines that feed a series of smaller distribution circuits, were repaired Sunday across New Hampshire and that 36 major circuits still require repairs.
PSNH REPORT FOR THE DURHAM AREA
The PSNH Epping Work Center, which services Durham and surrounding communities, reported this morning that it had been able to restore power to about 5,000 customers within the Epping work area.
In Durham at around 4 AM Monday, power was restored to Madbury Road, Edgewood, Little Hale Road, and a few other roadways coming off from Madbury Road. PSNH was also working last evening to restore power to the Mill Plaza area but was not confident this could be successfully accomplished at the time.
The Oyster River Middle School and High School have been restored with power. The Durham Town Office has power.
The Police Department, Public Works Department, Wastewater Treatment Plant located off Route 4, as well as our Beech Hill and Foss Farm water tanks, do not have power ad are operating on emergency backup generators.
PSNH is advising all customers currently without power in the area south of Route 4 from Concord to the Seacoast and along the southern tier from Temple eastward to assume that power will not be restored for several days and to plan accordingly.
This storm rates as PSNH's third largest outage in history, following the December 2008 Ice Storm and February 2010 Wind Storm.
PSNH crews are inbound from as far away as Tennessee, Illinois, and Canada to supplement state resources.
DURHAM TRASH REMOVAL ON SCHEDULE
Trash removal will occur as planned for the week of 10/31.
AREAS WITH POWER ARE LISTED HERE IN CASE RESIDENTS NEED SUPPLIES
Downtown Durham does have power. UNH has power. In addition, the Lee Traffic Circle has power.
HOW TO CALL PSNH OR THE NH ELECTRIC COOP
Call PSNH daily to report a power outage at 1-800-662-7764. Do not assume PSNH knows you do not have power! During these storm events, PSNH works to reenergize areas of town neighborhood by neighborhood but they do not always know individual service lines to homes are down. If an individual service is down, but a neighborhood has been “restored”, PSNH will not know you still do not have power – unless you let them know. So call PSNH and don’t be shy.
If you obtain power through the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, please contact NHEC directly at 603-536-8713.
DURHAM/UNH WARMING CENTER INFORMATION
A “Warming Center” will be in place at the UNH Hamel Recreation Center (formerly Snively) at the Whittemore Center. It is open to both UNH and the Town of Durham for daytime use only. Parking is available at the Depot Road Parking Lot for access to the Hamel Recreation Center. To avoid a parking ticket, put a piece of paper on your window which indicates you are utilizing the “Warming Center” at the Hamel Rec. Center. Residents in need of Universal Access parking may park in the Depot Road Lot spaces, in H-Lot by the Outdoor Pool, or at the UNH Alumni Center in appropriately marked spaces. Amenities include wireless access, showers, a soft floor, and at least 20 cots for use for the community’s benefit. Animals are not allowed in the facility. To date, approximately 50 residents have used the facility for showers, etc. We appreciate all of the efforts the staff at the
Hamel Recreation Center and UNH for opening the facility for Durham residents.
CONSIDER THE MUB AS AN OPTION FOR A WARM PLACE TO VISIT
If residents have no heat and are interested in taking some time to explore the Memorial Union Building (MUB) on the UNH campus. Durham residents are welcome! The MUB has WiFi, a food court, and more.
PORTABLE GENERATOR SAFETY INFORMATION
Portable generators should be placed 10 feet from any structure, with the exhaust facing away from the building openings. Deadly exhaust fumes can enter the building through any opening resulting in severe injury or death to unsuspecting occupants.
- Never place portable generators on or near combustible surfaces such as decks, porches, or tool sheds. Heat generated by the motor, or improper refueling methods can start a fire.
- Never run portable generators inside any building, including basement areas and garages. Deadly levels of carbon monoxide can build up in minutes injuring occupants with little to no warning.
- Allow plenty of time to cool the generator before refueling. Gasoline vapors can easily ignite from hot surfaces causing a flash fire and severe injuries.
- Always store approved gasoline containers a safe distance from generators while in [use]
IS THE FOOD IN YOUR REFRIGERATOR/FREEZER SAFE AFTER A LOSS OF POWER?
The US Department of Agriculture recommends taking the following steps during and after a weather emergency involving loss of power:
- Never taste food to determine if it is safe.
- Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature.
- The refrigerator will keep food safely cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened. A full freezer will hold the temperature approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) and the door remains closed.
- Food can be safely refrozen if it still contains ice crystals or is at 40°F or below.
- Get block ice or dry ice to keep your refrigerator and freezer as cold as possible if the power is going to be out for an extended period of time.
- Discard refrigerated perishable food such as meat, poultry, fish, soft cheeses, milk, eggs, leftovers, and deli items after 4 hours without power.
DO YOU NEED TO RECHARGE YOUR CELL PHONE?
If anyone needs to recharge their cell phones, the Durham Town Office is available during normal business hours at 15 Newmarket Road.
BE SURE TO CHECK IN ON NEIGHBORS WHO MAY NEED ASSISTANCE
Please take the time to touch base with your neighbors and/or friends within the community, particularly those who may need assistance, to ensure they are alright given the power outage. If you know of someone who the Police or Fire Department should check in on as part of a wellness check, please call 868-2324.
WHO TO CALL IF YOU NEED ASSISTANCE?
If you need assistance, do not hesitate to contact the Durham Police Department at 603-868-2324. In an emergency situation, please call 911.
Todd
Todd I. Selig
Administrator
Town of Durham, NH
(603) 868-5571
tselig@ci.durham.nh.us
The Town of Lee also sent edition 3 of their storm update information via the Lee News and Events list:
Due to no power the Lee Town Hall, Town Clerk/Tax Collector's, Library and Code Enforcement Offices are closed. There are no roads are closed in Lee.
Planet Fitness has opened their facitilies to the public so people can shower etc.
Shelters are open in the following locations:
- Brentwood - Brentwood Community Center
- Hooksett - Cawley Middle School
- Londonderry - Londonderry High School
- Manchester - Manchester Memorial High School
- Nashua - Nashua High School North
- Newmarket - Newmarket Community Center
- Rochester - Rochester Community Center
NEW HAMPSHIRE ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE OUTAGE UPDATE
10/31/11 9 A.M.
Crews remain on schedule to have the majority of restorations complete by 6 p.m. today in the wake of the Halloween snow storm that knocked out power to approximately 13,000 NHEC members. At the time of this update, approximately 6,700 NHEC members remained without power.
Thirty NHEC, contract and tree crews are working outages this morning in the following towns: Derry, Chester, Raymond, Lee, Brentwood and Deerfield. Work in these towns will also help restore power to members in neighboring towns that are served by the same lines in Sandown, Nottingham, Candia, Allenstown, Epping, Danville, Fremont, Londonderry, Kingston, Auburn, Epsom and Durham.
Power supply has been restored to all NHEC substations and metering points as of this morning, which will allow service to be immediately restored once repairs are made to the NHEC distribution system. It is likely that scattered, individual outages will continue into tomorrow (11/1). If you are still without power by nightfall today, please contact NHEC at 1-800-343-6432 to make sure we are aware of your outage.
PSNH Update
We continue to have approximately 190,000 customers without power in PSNH territory, but we expect over 100 contract crews to be arriving into NH between today and tomorrow to assist with the restoration.
