Londonderry News

PSNH announced at 4:30 AM, on the morning of December 16, 2008, that only about 96,000 PSNH customers were still without power. Around 223,000 customers had their power restored. At noon that day, it was estimated that 4,178 customers in Londonderry were powerless. “With about 9000 homes and businesses in town that would put just under half still without power. Five full days at 10pm tonight.” By 4:30 PM that day, the number of those without power dropped to 90,000.

It had appeared that the crews had been working with a West-to-East momentum, beginning their efforts on the coastline. Their first priority was the areas where hospitals, fire and police stations, and schools were. The progress in those areas was great and crews were beginning to be sent to the Western, Southern, and Central regions of New Hampshire. The main focus at this point became the Monadnock area and the towns of Nashua, Derry and Hudson. “Crews in these regions have experienced more extensive damage and widespread outages.” The amount of crews grew, in just one day, from 550 to 710. An estimated 13 crews were working in Londonderry at the time.

Just when we thought Mother Nature was finished with us, a Winter Weather Advisory came in. This time, snow was to be expected beginning at Midnight, and going through 3:00 PM the following day. The total estimated accumulation would be three to five inches by the next afternoon, and could be mixed with sleet and rain by the seacoast. This brought up questions from the residents about the effect the down wires would have on plowing. “It would be great to know if anyone has heard whether plowing IS going to be impacted by this?” asked one reader. “According to Dave Caron Londonderry Town Manager, ‘If wires are down on the street the trucks will not be able to plow that street.’” Crews also focused on clearing wires out of roads to ensure they would be able to get plowed.

Again, PSNH asked customers to be cautious when using generators. “PSNH reminds customers that it is critical for their safety and the safety of line workers repairing the electrical system that portable generators be installed correctly. Generators must be properly ventilated to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning….. To protect line workers, a generator should only attach to the house wiring isolated from the utility supply.”

There were still roads that were impassible, but crews were no longer ghosts, and residents were actually seeing them doing work. One commented, “I was on Pillsbury Rd. just after 12 and saw an out of state crew working near King Richard – they’re out there!” Another wrote, “National Guard spotted on Chase Road – clearing trees as of 11am……….” School was closed, again, on Wednesday December 17. The Drop Off Center also announced that it would be open on Saturday for residents to bring debris from the storm.

Please feel free to leave your comments on this story.

If you’d like to read the articles about Day 5 of the Ice Storm as it was happening, click any of the following links:

Londonderry Day 5 60% Without Power Includes PSNH update and wind gust warnings. Find out how strong the winds were supposed to be.

No School on Wednesday in Londonderry This was to re-instate that there would be no school. Discover whether the decision had been made about the rest of the week yet.

Drop Off Center Opened Saturday Announcing that the drop off center would be open the follow Saturday to collect debris. Find out their regular drop off hours.

Latest Update from PSNH PSNH’s update at 11:00 AM that morning included information on what they thought to be the worst effected areas. Click to see if you were in the worst of it.

Londonderry 12:00 Update Includes information from Sharon Carson and Dave Caron. Read the readers’ comments to find out what they were saying about Governor Lynch.

The Latest Information Regarding Power Includes a link listing towns and when they were expected to have complete restoration. Find out whether your town was on-time.

Winter Weather Advisory for Londonderry The Weather Advisory warning New Hampshire and Londonderry residents about the possibility of snow. Click to find out how much was expected.

PSNH Estimates Under 50% Now Without Power in Londonderry Includes a YouTube video of the restoration effort and a list of towns with the total number of PSNH customers without power per town. Discover which town had the most outages.

Londonderry High Red Cross Shelter A Union Leader Correspondent was sent to the Shelter to talk to residents. Includes a YouTube video of an interview with one of the volunteers at the shelter. Find out what she had to say.