Power Slowly Being Restored To NH Residents
BEDFORD, NH (CBS) - More than 190,000 people in New Hampshire are still without power following an October snowstorm that dumped nearly two feet of snow on some parts of the state. That number is down from a peak outage of 237,000.
It is a near record setting power outage and it's hitting Southern New Hampshire the hardest.
The 20 inches of snow that buried Bedford is melting, but the cleanup is just starting. And Mike Demers is still in the dark.
WBZ-TV's Lauren Leamanczyk reports
"Unbelievable," he said as he looked at the downed power lines in his yard. "It's Halloween, why would this be happening?"
He and his neighbors cleared away branches and helped tie up loose lines when the wind took them down Sunday.
"We heard the noise in the night. It was crashing down and when it crashed down it brought all the wires down," he said.
The electric company, PSNH, says they are working round the clock but it could be days before all residents get their power back. It's the third worst power outage in the company's history.
The hardest hit areas are Manchester and Nashua to the Massachusetts state line. 160,000 people lost power in that area alone.
"Trees still have their foliage combined with heavy wet snow. it's just created a tremendous amount of tree limbs that impacted power lines," explained PSNH spokesman Mike Skelton.
Some residents just couldn't wait it out. Around 45 people camped out Sunday night at an emergency shelter at Manchester Memorial High School. More are expected Monday night.
Mike plans to ride out the blackout. He'll rely on fires, candles and even solar powered lights. Meanwhile his neighbor Nancy Buciak is worried it could take days for PSNH to fix this mess. She borrowed a generator.
"It was really cold in there and I wanted a hot shower. It's just enough to do that and the refridgerator."
PSNH says they are still assessing damage but they hope to have a more detailed timeline available for customers soon.
