Londonderry News

There was snow on the ground when Londonderry awoke on the morning of December 17, 2008. The roads were bad and wires across some roads made them impossible to plow. PSNH predicted that the snow would not “hamper restoration efforts” but would only “be an added challenge to our crews.” There were now upwards of 725 line, contract and tree-cutting crews throughout New Hampshire. 13 of those crews were in Londonderry.

Approximately 75% of New Hampshire PSNH customers had power by 11:00 AM on this day, and this number reached 80% by 4:00 PM. There were still about 64,000 customers with no power. Londonderry was predicted to have about 3,300 customers without power, but PSNH said they were trying to get up to 95% of its Londonderry customers power by midnight. Many were skeptical. One reader commented, “….I don’t believe the numbers PSNH is publishing – claim to have fixed around 1200 since yesterday – no way. Forget 95% by tomorrow too!” Another wrote, “I don’t believe what PSNH is telling us. I called on Monday and they told me that 53 circuits had gone down at the beginning of the storm and that they had 35 left to fix before my address would get power back. I called yesterday and they told me that they had 41 circuits to fix before I would get power back.”

The crews, although still seemingly few and far between, had already replaced almost 55 miles of wire. Also, they had replaced 500 transformers, and 9,700 fuses. This was more fuses than PSNH had used in a span of several years. A few readers left comments, with statements that they had seen crews within Londonderry. “Saw 4 PSNH trucks working on Perkins Rd around 5:45pm,” wrote one. Senator Elect Sharon Carson did comment, as well, that PSNH was sending in 10 more crews that night.

School was closed, yet again, on Thursday. The buses had done a test run that morning and found that there were still at least three roads that were impassible. All school events were also canceled. There were several comments from readers regarding both the possibility of opening the schools up for the public to bring their children, as many were getting “cabin fever,” and the topic of make up days come the end of the school year. One reader wanted “the schools open for recreation? Activities and Crafts for Christmas? That way families can go to the schools and use the gyms for games and things for the children to do?” Some readers were pro-make-up days, commenting that they “do not want these days off to affect the minimum number of days the schools are supposed to provide my children, even if that means extending the school year well into June,” and “there are far too many days off in a school year as it is.” Some opted to close the schools completely until January, and wanted “to see the February or April vacation canceled.” There were those however that we opposed to taking away from the vacation time. “I think that’s a horrible idea what about all the people that have already made plans to go away?” wrote one reader.

To add to the stress we were all feeling from losing power, another ice storm was scheduled to move in. “Areas of freezing rain will continue across southern New Hampshire and coastal Maine through early this evening.” was what the National Weather Service predicted. There was also the possibility of light snow. There was also talk about more snow over the weekend.

A warning did go out about scammers wanting to reconnect power lines for a fee. Regional Director of HUD Greg Carson had received an email stating “people are posing as utility workers.” The scammers’ main focus was on those who had lost power through the connection between homes and the power lines.

Thanks for your interest and  comments.  Like the 12 days of Christmas we are only half way through our series on last years ice storm.  With temps in the single digits this morning it sure was nice to have heat this year!

If you’d like to read the articles or comments from this day, please follow these links:

On Walton’s Mountain… A comical publication written by Jim Loiselle and his struggles without power or a flush…..you know what I mean.

Day 6 and Getting Cranky A list of streets and neighborhoods that had or hadn’t received power as of 8:40 AM. Click to refresh your memory of whether your neighborhood had power or not. This article also got 54 comments from the readers.

Update from Senator Elect Sharon Carson A brief statement regarding her conversation with Government Affairs at PSNH. Find out what you should have done if you didn’t have power by Thursday morning.

No School Thursday Superintendent Nate Greenberg gives an update on schools for the rest of the week.Click to discover if the decision for Friday had been made yet. This also has 18 comments from readers, some of which provided strong opinions about how to handle school make-up days.

Waiting on Update A brief update that warned residents not to drive.

75 Percent of Customers in New Hampshire Now Have Power An update from PSNH as of 11:45 AM; includes a list of towns and their projected date of 95% restoration. Discover when your town was expected to have power.

PSNH Update…. South End of Town A short statement by Jim Loiselle regarding the area by South Rd, Chase Rd and parts of lower Mammoth, and the number of breaks in the circuit of this area. Click for more details and to learn how many customers are one this circuit.

Information from the Town In the latest from PSNH, per Dave Caron, the town was broken into sections and given an estimate of how many customers were in each area and when they should expect power. Also includes another, more detailed “Where’s Watty?” and the printable version.

Weather Advisory Freezing Rain in Londonderry Another storm front was moving in. Click to find out how much snow was to be expected and when the Advisory would end.

500 Transformers and 9,700 Fuses Londonderry Hopes They Do Not Run Out An update from PSNH at 4:15 PM. This article includes a list of the estimated number of customers without power per town, as of 12:00 noon. Find out where your town stood.