The large winter storm system that has wreaked havoc from the Upper Midwest to New England knocked out power to about 14,000 CVPS customers today. As of 4 pm Wednesday, 9,200 customers were without power. Bennington, Rutland and Addison counties were hardest hit, as high winds brought down trees and power lines along the western slopes of the Green Mountains.
“The storm has really tracked up the western slopes from south to north,” said Storm Manager Scott Massie. “Our crews down south saw some very high winds, and we have at least six broken poles in Bennington County that we know of right now. We’ve had reports of gusts over 60 mph in Rutland County.”
Crews worked to restore outages as they came in today, although the storm is not expected to end until later this evening. CVPS is cautiously moving crews from unaffected districts to assist restoration in the hardest hit areas.
“Crews are making progress, but the winds have not died down yet, so while we restore customers, we’re taking additional outages elsewhere,” CVPS spokeswoman Christine Rivers said. “We expect crews to make good progress through the night, but we will be working into tomorrow morning, and complete restoration could take longer depending on when the winds finally die down.”
CVPS offered several safety tips for coping with the outages:
· Treat any downed line as if it is live. Report the line to your local utility and fire department, stay at least 30 feet away from the line, and keep children and pets away as well.
· If using a generator, read and follow the owner’s manual before starting the generator. Never operate a generator inside any structure or near a structure. Use a transfer switch to ensure electricity is not accidentally fed onto a line where line crews must work.
· Keep freezers and refrigerators closed as much as possible to prevent food spoilage.
· If power goes out, turn off all electrical appliances except one light so you’ll know when service returns. Then, turn equipment back on slowly.
Winter storm, high winds knock out power to 14,000 CVPS customers
Submitted by tim
on