Ice Storm'd

A state of emergency has been declared in New Hampshire as crews around the state deal with damage left in the wake of a major ice storm that rolled through the Northeast. Ice build-up on trees caused branches and limbs to come crashing down, in many cases on power lines already weighted down by the bulky ice causing major outages in the state. Storm Watch 9 meteorologist Kevin Skarupa said ice accumulated anywhere from 1/2 inch to a full inch in some areas. Combining all four state power utilities, over 350,000 New Hampshire residents were left in the dark. About 320,000 outages alone are on PSNH's grid, according to Martin Murray, of PSNH. That number represents more than half of their customers. Murray said that the number of outages may rise even though 190 crews are working to restore power. PSNH warned that many people may not get power for some time. Hundreds of roads were closed (Check Closures) across the state and residents were told to stay in their homes or seek an emergency shelter (Click For List Of Shelters). Officials said some of the worst-hit areas include Keene, Peterborough, Hillsboro, Milford, Nashua, Manchester, Derry, Epping, Portsmouth and Rochester. Mutual aid crews from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Quebec, Canada, were requested, said James Van Dongen, of NH Department of Public Safety.

More Outages Than 1998 Ice Storm

According to PSNH, the number of outages are unprecedented, and have already surpassed statewide outages from the January 1998 ice storm. At the peak of the 1998 storm, 55,000 residents were without power. The New Hampshire Electric Cooperative said more than 37,000 people on their grid have lost power. According to spokesperson Amanda Conaway, the Coop is having difficulty repairing downed lines on their grid because every time crews take a tree off a power line, another tree falls. The state requested that residents treat all down power lines as live, and report their location to their local utility or police and fire.

State Of Emergency Declared

Gov. John Lynch issued the state of emergency just before 9 a.m. "With rain expected to continue and temperatures expected to drop as the day progresses it is important that the state has all its resources available to manage this situation. I urge all New Hampshire citizens to take sensible precautions and heed all warnings from public officials," Lynch said.

WMUR

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The Toast got power back around 1:00, there are a few trees and branches down in the yard but nothing too gnarly. Its a good thing PSNH knew to get power back up quick here, it would have been tough running the dj an lights off of a generator. See y'all tonight.