Sandy Power Outages Jump to 88 Percent; Restoration Time Unknown

She may have been downgraded to a tropical storm, but Sandy was once a hurricane, and was so when she barreled through Northborough on Monday, Oct. 29.

As of 11 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the National Grid outage map, thousands were still without power.

By noon on Tuesday, 5,800 customers are without power, according to National Grid Spokesperson Charlotte McCormack. With 6,559 total customers in town, that represents 88 percent of the customer base.

"I don’t know what the cause is," said McCormack, when asked about the increase in outages since yesterday. "Obviously something happened overnight." 

McCormack said assessment and restoration crews are in town, and in some cases both assessing and restoring power at the same time. She added that at this point it is impossible to give ETRs (estimated time of restoration), and would be able to when more accurate information is available.

On Monday evening, McCormack said that since crews were not allowed to work in conditions that produce wind over 30 miles per hour, which is why assessments began on Tuesday morning.

The town announced facilities available to Northborough residents:

The YMCA located at 4 Valente Drive in Westborough, 508-870-1320, (across from the Christmas Tree Shop Plaza) is allowing any town resident to use its shower facilities at no charge. The YMCA is open Monday–Friday 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday 7 a.m.  to 9 p.m. and Sunday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

The Shrewsbury Health and Racquet Club (SHARC), located at 3 Tennis Drive, Shrewsbury, 508-845-1000, will allow any Town resident to use its shower facilities at no charge. SHARC is open Monday-Thursday 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Residents using any of the facilities above should take their own towels and toiletries.

While many are looking for locations to recharge laptops and cell phones, options are few in town. The town offices, library and Senior Center are all without power, as of 1 p.m. on Tuesday. Most businesses on Route 9, Wegmans and Hannaford Plaza in Marlborough (Panera, Starbucks, etc.) all have power, according to Town Administrator John Coderre.

"Unfortunately, we do not have a municipal facility to offer until we get power restored," said Coderre.

This town is always prepared to open a shelter should one become necessary, added Coderre. At this point, the focus is on downed trees and power outages.

An emergency planning guide for residents created by the town can be found here.