Utility crews work to restore power to tens of thousands in New Hampshire (2024)

Utility crews were working across New Hampshire on Friday to restore power to nearly 40,000 customers without electricity in the wake of Thursday's nor'easter.That number was down from more than 92,000 earlier in the day. At the peak of the storm, nearly 20% of customers in New Hampshire were without power.Eversource officials said most of the 120,000 of its customers who lost power were in the northern parts of the state, with many people in Rochester and Keene also seriously affected. More than 1,300 crews were out working to get things back up and running, but Eversource said they faced challenges navigating the storm damage to get to the affected areas. Downed trees and power lines also create hazardous working conditions.>> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play <<"There's the men and women out in the line trucks," said Bob Coates, vice president of project management for Eversource. "There's people doing damage assessment out in vehicles. There's people in the back office, in the corporate office here, that switch and tag, make safe work clearances to safely restore power. The logistics, materials, fuel, lodging, feeding to keep people working to restore power as fast as humanly possible."Many towns, including Bedford, were hit hard by the combination of heavy, wet snow and gusty winds." went out about 7 a.m. The wind was howling pretty bad all night. We got up and there was no power. We have a generator for that reason. This happens probably once every three to five years," Ginny Covart said.Eversource officials said that by Friday evening, fewer than 45,000 of its customers remained with power. They said they hoped to soon have a more specific timeline of when customers could expect to have power back. Thousands of New Hampshire Electric Co-op customers were also without power due to the storm. NHEC officials said the storm cleanup has been nothing short of challenging. "This is a tricky situation with the numbers of trees that are down. Just trying to get around and trying to access some of this damage," NHEC spokesperson Colin Manning said.Customers who lost power at their home or business are asked to call their utility to report the outage:Eversource - 800-662-7764Liberty Utilities - 855-349-9455New Hampshire Electric Co-op - 800-343-6432Unitil - 888-301-7700>> Find the latest power outage maps at this linkAnyone who sees downed power lines should call 911. Assume they are still live wires, and do not touch them or drive over them.People should also stay at least 35 feet away from downed lines and anything they fall on.>> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play <With the power out, some might turn to generators, but officials urge folks to only use a generator that has been properly connected to house wiring by a professional.Generators should be run outside and at least 10 feet away from a building, with the exhaust facing away from the house.Improperly installed or running generators can cause carbon monoxide poisoning. Anyone who suspects carbon monoxide in a home or building should leave immediately and call 911 before calling the state poison center at 1-800-222-1222.Be weather-aware! Download the WMUR app for Apple or Android devices and turn on push notifications. You can choose to receive weather alerts for your geolocation and/or up to three ZIP codes. In addition, you can receive word when precipitation is coming to your area.Get storm coverage through the free Very Local app on your smart TV.Follow the Storm Watch 9 team on social media:Mike Haddad: Facebook | XKevin Skarupa: Facebook | XHayley LaPoint: Facebook | XJacqueline Thomas: Facebook | XMatt Hoenig: Facebook | X