Hurricane Irene - Electricity Outage and Impact - 5:30 am Update
Monday, August 29, 2011
By the time Irene arrived she was no longer a hurricane, but for the thousands with property damage and the hundreds of thousands who are still without electricity, this storm has plenty of whack.
National Grid spokesman David Graves told GoLocal about 275,000 people lost power across the state throughout the day. "There were only a few thousand outages early in the day, but as the winds got progressively worse and trees started to come down, the numbers went up," said Graves.
The impact to in property damage was clearly a fraction of the devastation that could have been realized if Irene had remained a full blown hurricane. Graves said the outages were widespread across the state, but noted that at one time, Warwick had about 25,000 residents without power. He said National Grid will be working around the clock to restore power. To see the full outage map (click here)
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe imapct was seen in many ways - dark neighborhoods, schools cancelling, and lines out the door at local restaurants that were open.
A Week to Restore All
"It could be into next weekend before all customers are restored," he said. Graves said emergency facilities have been set up in communities around the state for residents in need. He recommended watching out for down power lines and to make sure generators are kept outside to avoid carbon monoxide buildup.
Back to Work
For state workers it is back to work and a regular schedule. Governor Lincoln D. Chafee announced this evening that state offices will function as usual.
In Providence
The City of Providence warned that traffic signals are down throughout the city and that drivers should exercise extreme caution at intersections. The citywide parking ban has been lifted in Providence and Providence City Hall will be open tomorrow during regular business hours, 8:30AM to 4:30PM.
Volunteers are Needed
According to Serve RI, volunteers are desperately needed to assist with storm assessment and help moving nursing home residents. Contact Serve Rhode Island by sign up. Click Here
Those without full Internet, but email should email - [email protected]
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