Unitil : Opens Emergency Operations Center

Unitil Corporation, (Unitil.com), a provider of electricity and natural gas to customers in New England, has opened its system and regional Emergency Operations Centers to coordinate response efforts following heavy wet snow and high winds overnight which are forecasted to continue throughout the day.

As of 6:00AM, approximately 5,620 Unitil customers are without power in New Hampshire. A full town-by-town breakdown is available at unitil.com/map.

Unitil secured additional crews in advance of the storm and are responding to outages and public safety issues as they are reported. Hazardous winds are expected to continue for the next several hours.

"This spring nor'easter is a long-duration event for our region. Overnight we experienced heavy, wet snow and a rain/snow mix in combination with high winds over 45-50 mph," Unitil External Affairs Director Alec O'Meara said. "With conditions like these expected to continue throughout the day our crews will be working closely with municipal officials on public safety issues such as wires down and road closures due to broken tree limbs and restoring power where they can. The continued high winds can create challenges and slow restoration as bucket trucks cannot safely extend their arms in wind speeds over 35 mph. We urge caution for anyone who has to be on the road during this storm."

High wind gusts have the potential to damage trees and tree branches, which can in turn bring poles and wires to the ground. We urge people to always assume all fallen or dangling cables and wires are energized and stay away. Be sure to avoid wet ground or puddles near a downed line, as water conducts electricity. In addition, keep away from all flooded and debris-laden areas because they may be hiding downed lines. Stay in a safe place and avoid driving in damaged areas so you don't interfere with rescue and restoration efforts.

Localized flooding may occur as part of this event. Flooding and standing water in your home can pose serious hazards to your personal safety and property. Wet electrical wiring is extremely hazardous, and flooding can be harmful to your natural gas service equipment. More information on how to stay safe in flooding conditions is available at https://unitil.com/flooding.

Unitil will be communicating throughout the event through Public Service Announcements (PSAs), our website, our customer call center and through the media. We also encourage customers to follow along with our storm updates via Facebook, our Twitter feed (@Unitil) and we will be providing real-time outage information online at unitil.com/map.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR MEDIA:

Unitil asks that when reporting outage information, outlets time stamp the information. Outage numbers change hourly and we wish to make sure the information customers receive is consistent and understandable. Re-Tweets and re-posting of old information without referencing a time can create confusion.

Customers experiencing outages should call 1-888-301-7700 or report online at unitil.com/report-outage.