Unitil Corporation, (Unitil.com), a provider of natural gas and electricity to customers in New England, is preparing for potential impacts from a winter storm expected to impact the area tonight and throughout tomorrow.
According to the most recent forecast, as much as 2-7 inches of snow are possible as a front passes through the region. Additionally, a wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain is expected to fall intermittently throughout the event. Snow totals are expected to be higher in northern areas, while mixing is more likely in the southern portion of Unitil’s service territory. Currently, sleet is expected to be the dominant form of mixed precipitation, which has the potential to make travel difficult.
“With a messy storm like the one forecasted, what we monitor closely is the type of precipitation that falls and the consistency of any snow,” Unitil Media Relations Manager Alec O’Meara said. “Sleet and normal-to dry snow tend not to stick to surfaces, while freezing rain and wet, heavy snow can damage trees and tree branches, which can cause outages.”
Unitil will be closely monitoring conditions as they unfold throughout the event and will be prepared to respond should outages occur from motor vehicle accidents or other issues caused by the storm.
We recommend our customers prepare similarly by checking and making an inventory of the following items:
- Flashlights and fresh batteries
- Portable chargers and supplemental batteries for mobile devices
- Bottled water, canned foods and a manual can opener
- A first aid kit
Heavy wet snow has the potential to damage trees and to take wires to the ground. We urge people to always assume all fallen or dangling cables and wires are energized and stay away. Be sure to avoid wet ground or puddles near a downed lined, as water conducts electricity. In addition, keep away from all flooded and debris laden areas because they may be hiding downed lines. Stay in a safe place and avoid driving in damaged areas so you don’t interfere with rescue and restoration efforts.
Unitil will be communicating throughout the event through Public Service Announcements (PSAs), our website, our customer call center and through the media. We also encourage customers to follow along with our storm updates via Facebook, our Twitter feed (@Unitil) and we will be providing real-time outage information online at unitil.com/map.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR MEDIA:
Unitil asks that when reporting outage information, outlets time stamp the information. Outage numbers change hourly and we wish to make sure the information customers receive is consistent and understandable. Re-Tweets and re-posting of old information without referencing a time can create confusion.
Customers experiencing outages should call 1-888-301-7700 or report online at unitil.com/report-outage.
