WALTHAM, MA - Roughly 24 hours after Tropical Storm Henri hit New England, pummeling the region with heavy rain and winds that toppled entire trees and took down power lines, thousands of National Grid employees and contractors are focused on clean-up and restoration.

Approximately 151,600 customers lost their power at some point during the storm. While National Grid has made great progress, restoring 82,600 in Rhode Island and 37,300 in Massachusetts in less than a day, the company realizes that its job is not done until each customer is back on.

'Our crews worked throughout the night and into today to restore power to more than 120,000 of our customers, but we know there are still customers waiting,' said Michael McCallan, Vice President of New England Electric Operations. 'We are on track to restore most customers by tomorrow afternoon, and we will continue working until every customer is back on.'

National Grid tracked the storm since last week and was well-prepared to respond, with overhead line, forestry, wires down, transmission, underground and substation workers mobilized across staging sites in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The storm struck New England on Sunday, bringing with it heavy rain and up to 70 mph wind gusts. At the peak of the storm at around 1:30 pm Sunday, approximately 80,500 customers in Rhode Island and 13,500 customers in Massachusetts experienced power outages.

The company re-allocated hundreds of field-based personnel from less-impacted areas in Massachusetts on Monday to support the restoration efforts in Rhode Island. In total, nearly 4,000 personnel are currently working in the field - 2,039 in Rhode Island and 1,919 in Massachusetts. As of 3 pm on Monday, approximately 31,400 remained without power in Rhode Island and approximately 180 customers remained without power in Massachusetts.

The hardest hit communities in Rhode Island include South Kingstown, Narragansett, Westerly, Jamestown, Charlestown and North Kingstown. The majority of customers are expected to be restored by Tuesday afternoon. For the most up to date information, which is refined as damage is assessed and crews are assigned, customers are urged to look up their address on www.nationalgridus.com/outage-central.

The company offers the following tips and reminders to customers:

Customers Should Stay Connected:

  • Report power outages at www.nationalgridus.com or call 1-800-465-1212.
  • Use your mobile device to track outage information and storm-related safety tips through National Grid's mobile site accessible at www.ngrid.com/mobile.
  • Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram; we post all the latest storm and restoration updates.
  • Track outages and estimated restoration times at www.nationalgridus.com/outage-central
  • To stay connected during storms and outages, text to 64743 using any of the below commands.
    • REG to sign up for text alerts
    • OUT to report an outage
    • SUM followed by your town, county, or state to get a summary of outages in your area
    • HELP for the full list of commands

Stay Safe:

  • Never touch downed power lines, and always assume that any fallen lines are live electric wires. If you see one, report it immediately to National Grid or your local emergency response organization.
  • Power problems can sometimes interrupt public water supply systems or disable well pumps, so it's an especially good idea to keep a supply of bottled drinking water handy, as well as some canned food.
  • People who depend on electric-powered life support equipment, such as a respirator, should let National Grid know. To register as a life support customer, call the company's Customer Service Center at 1-800-322-3223.
  • Check on elderly family members, neighbors and others who may need assistance during an outage period.

Electric safety:

  • If you use a generator to supply power during an outage, be sure to operate it outdoors. Before operating generators, disconnect from National Grid's system by shutting off the main breaker located in the electric service panel. Failure to do this could jeopardize the safety of line crews and the public.
  • If you lose power, turn off any appliances that were on when the power went off, but leave one light on so you will know when power is restored.
  • Reminder: It's not safe to work in an elevated bucket during periods of increased wind gusts. Our line workers begin restoration work only when conditions are deemed safe.

Gas Safety:

If you suspect a natural gas leak:

  • Get Out - All occupants should leave the house immediately. Do not use the telephone or light switches for any reason.
  • Call Us - After leaving the house and reaching a safe environment, call the National Grid 24-hour gas emergency number for New England at 1-800-640-1595.
  • Stay Out - Do not return to your home until National Grid tells you it is safe.

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Disclaimer

National Grid plc published this content on 18 August 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 23 August 2021 20:53:20 UTC.