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Eversource and United Illuminating both said they were preparing for the potential impacts of Tropical Storm Henri on Connecticut.
Eversource President and CEO Joe Nolan said the company now classifies the storm as a Level 3 event, meaning up to 49% of its customers could be without power for 10 days.
“We just declared a level 3, you have to prepare for a potency loss of up to five to 10 days in a level 3,” Nolan said.
“It’s going to be a very big storm,” Nolan said.
Eversource said it has secured more than 300 line crews and 250 tree crews in Connecticut currently with 620 other line crews who will be here before the storm begins on Sunday. The company also said it was working to get help from the mid-Atlantic states. Eversource is working to bring in up to 4,000 crews, a record for the company, Nolan said.
Nolan said he canceled vacations for Eversource workers and was preparing the biggest storm response he had seen.
“Eversource is well prepared,” Nolan said at a briefing Friday.
He asks customers “to be patient, to be ready”. Nolan said the storm’s slow pace and the possibility of it stopping over the region are cause for concern.
The utility company said it would activate its emergency response protocols on Sunday morning pending 1,500 to 10,000 hot spots.
“We have been closely monitoring several storm forecasts for the past several days and are actively participating in our emergency preparedness efforts so that, if necessary, we are ready to respond and quickly restore power to our customers,” said Eversource Regional Power Operations president Craig Hallstrom in a statement Thursday.
United Illuminating said it doubled its staff in the field, including linemen, pruning and tree removal crews before the storm. The company plans to have additional resources arriving throughout the weekend.
United Illuminating said customers with critical health conditions that depend on electricity should call 800-722-5584 as soon as possible.
Eversource said customers can report outages online or by calling 800-286-2000.
United Illuminating outages can be reported online or by calling 800-722-5584.
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