Some storm!

Lights out for most of Charlestown
By Will Collette

The one tree we lost was this oak that snapped near the base.
Amazingly, fell just along the side of our long, sloping
driveway without blocking it. (Photo by Will Collette)

I'm not sure how many Charlestown readers will see this piece - according to National Grid, most of town is without power after the lights went out all over town around 10 PM last night.

We put in a back-up generator after Sandy and then winter storm Nemo impressed on us the importance of having a reliable source of energy.

Currently, National Grid is estimating 4:15 PM for restoration of power to the several thousand homes in Charlestown and Westerly who were hit.

Maybe they can get some help from Whitefish Energy who now have time on their hands after being fired from their contract to restore power in Puerto Rico.



According to Jason Vallee at the Westerly Sun:

In Rhode Island, Charlestown took the hardest hit, with more than 5,000 without power representing over 90 percent of customers in the community. Westerly had 5,524 outages, or approximately 35 percent of the community; Richmond had 1,385 outages, or about 40 percent of the community; and Hopkinton had 2,184 outages representing approximately 55 percent of the community.

Chariho, Westerly and South Kingstown school districts are closed today. There are numerous other cancellations in the area. If you plan to go out, you should check first to see if your destination is open for business.

Follow the usual precautions after a wind storm to avoid fallen wires and to stay out of the way of emergency crews.

The storm was unconnected to Tropical Storm Phillippe which once had a track that could have affected us. Phillippe blew itself out well south of here.