Massachusetts residents regain power

By Caitlin O’Beirne

Power outages in Massachusetts dropped into the hundreds on Friday.

The National Grid expected to complete repairs by Friday. National Grid Spokeswoman Deborah Drew said to Boston Globe reporters, “This stage is usually described as picking up the onesies and twosies.”

All but 690 National Grid customers have regained power in MA. Just yesterday 7,000 people in the state didn’t have electricity. At the peak of Hurricane Sandy on Monday evening 380,000 National Grid customers were without power. Most outages were due to trees falling because of high gusts of winds.

The goal was originally to fully restore the state three days after the Hurricane.

National Grid spokesman Michael Durand said, “The outages were widely spread across our service territory, but the suburbs west of Boston, like Weston, Sudbury and Sherbourne were hit hard.”

Most of the areas that are still without power are either isolated areas or narrow streets. MA Governor Deval Patrick is monitoring the efficiency in which damages are repaired across the state.

The National Grid will now send employees to New York City and Rhode Island, where outages are more severe.

Electricity is predicted to be completely restored in Manhatten by next weekend. There have been some reports that power outages could last until mid-November in some parts of NYC. In Manhatten 222,000 are currently without power. Con Ed has restored power to 335,000 customers in the city.

Con Ed Vice President John Miksad said to CBS reporters, “We don’t want to blow smoke on this. We want to make sure that folks can plan their lives accordingly. We’re doing our damnedest…but it is what it is, and it’s a long, hard slog to get this restoration done.”

Photo Courtesy: AP Images