Thousands Still Without Power After Sandy

After Tropical Storm Irene last year, Brian Li went out and bought a generator. He already had a pump for the basement, but this time he was ready for the wind and the rain.

Li, who lives on Church Street, had been without power for close to 24 hours by Tuesday at 5 p.m. The generator, while it brings the electricity, had already cost him $60 in gas. And he wonders why Northborough seems to lag behind in the restoration numbers.

"We just get slammed every time," said Li, who had just gotten back from checking on his neighbor. "I'd really like to know why. Last time, we didn't have power for four days. Westborough, Marlborough ... the have power. We don't we?"

As of 4:15 p.m. Tuesday in Northborough, nearly 4,000 homes remained without power because of Hurricane Sandy, according to the utility's website.

By Tuesday morning, 88 percent of the town's customers had been without power.

The utility is now completing assessments of the affected areas. Once those assessments are finished—a process expected to be completed early Wednesday morning—individual outages will be assigned specific time frames for restoration. Restoration estimates could come tonight.

Marcy Reed, president of National Grid in Massachusetts, in a conference call with media said until the assessments are completed, she couldn't say how long it will take for power to be completely restored. Once the assessments are done, the utility will share the information through media and on its website.

Priority for power restoration went to public safety complexes and hospitals. Overnight, National Grid restored power to eight hospitals in the state that lost power, she said.

National Grid has 2,400 people working in Massachusetts to restore power Tuesday, and good weather has allowed crews to make progress, the utility reported in the conference call.

The crews are working 16 hours on - 8 hours off and will continue until all customers are restored.

At its peak, Hurricane Sandy power losses totaled 237,000 customers in Massachusetts. The number as of 3 p.m. without power: 163,000.

Four utility trucks worked up in the power lines only yards away from Dave Mailly's house at 404 Howard St. He lost electricity at 7:15 p.m. on Monday night, and was still without. Smoking a pipe, and tending to his animals in the yard, he said he's "getting used to it around here."

"We've lost it seven or eight times here, at least," said Mailly. "It's New England; we roll with the punches. That was an amazing storm."

Mailley and his wife Penelope, who have lived in Northborough for ten years, share their home with two cats, a dog, five chickens and two llamas named Forgetmenot and Chantilly. The animals fared fine in Hurricane Sandy, too.

"The llamas actually prefer to be out and like the wind," he said, "but they can come in the barn if they want to."

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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.