Dec 20, 2008 4:59 pm US/Eastern
Outrage In N.H. Prompts Concern For Crews' Safety
EXETER, N.H. (AP) ―
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Crews try to repair fallen power lines after the ice storm.
Rich Pinard/WBZ
Frustration over lingering power outages is turning to outrage in some New Hampshire communities, and police say they are concerned for the safety of line crews, as the painstaking job of restoring power entered its 10th day.
Unitil officials say that in some cases, residents have parked cars in front of utility trucks to keep them from leaving neighborhoods.
Unitil spokesman Bob Schoenberger says in one case, a driver ran a line crew off the road to stop them. Another resident jumped on the back of a bucket truck and refused to get off.
Meanwhile, utility crews worked through the snow to continue restoring power to New Hampshire.
As of Saturday afternoon, fewer than 24,000 homes and businesses still were in the dark, with a second, potentially damaging, storm of the weekend on the way.
Unitil estimated restoration to all areas should be complete by Sunday night with the exception of a handful of homes in the hardest hit towns.
Forecasters say Sunday's storm was expected to bring at least 4 to 8 inches of heavy, wet snow. Higher terrain in southwestern New Hampshire, where many power outages remain, could get 11 inches.
The storm brings the potential of more power outages, forecasters said, because of the heavy snow and high winds.
Public Service Company of New Hampshire, which was handling all but about 850 of the outages, said 1,100 line and tree crews were on the job Saturday.
Also Saturday, Gov. John Lynch said he and other state agency heads continue to urge utilities to make sure community officials have the latest information on when power will be restored.
"The utilities have made significant progress in restoring power in what is an unprecedented outage," Lynch said. "However, I continue to hear frustration from the local communities regarding communication with the utilities and I share their frustration."
Lynch said PSNH has informed state officials that they intend to dispatch representatives to several communities to help coordinate restoration efforts.
The governor said the state and Federal Emergency Management Agency have brought more bottled water into the state for distribution through local emergency management directors.
He said four regional shelters will stay open as long as they are needed. They are at Londonderry High School, Mascenic Regional High School in New Ipswich, Sanborn Regional High School in Kingston and Peterborough South Meadow School.
Saturday night, 26 shelters were open, housing 130 people.
About 200 National Guardsmen remain on duty, directing traffic, removing debris and delivering supplies such as bottled water, generators, cots and blankets.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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