Thanksgiving Storm: 344,000 Homes Across The U.S. Remain Without Power


It was a dark Thanksgiving meal for several thousands of Americans after a massive power outage left more than 344,000 homes without electricity on Thursday. According to NBC News, several places in New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts remained without power on Thanksgiving day, leaving many people frustrated. The report confirmed that 181,000 customers in New Hampshire, 69,900 in Maine, and 21,200 in Massachusetts were affected by the outage that has been blamed on the recent storm that dumped over 20-inches of snow in several areas across the Northeast.

While the storm has long receded, its impacts still remain. According to reports, several of the power outages were caused by cars crashing onto utility poles. Apart from power outages, several crashes too have been reported from the area. Several vehicles were also reported to have run off the road.

Meanwhile, Michael Todd, who is a spokesman for the New Hampshire Department of Safety, requested local residents to make alternate Thanksgiving plans. He advised the affected group of people to move in to a shelter or to a friends/relatives home.

“This is not something you should try to wait out in your house.”

According to NECN, this is the fourth largest power outage in the entire history of the state of New Hampshire — a fact confirmed by Governor Maggie Hassan. To make things sound even more grim, several officials from the New Hampshire emergency management team have reiterated that it would take days for them to fully restore power to each and every home. In fact, work is on with the cooperation from the Red Cross to make temporary shelters for people who are likely to remain in darkness for the next few days.

Meanwhile, in nearby Maine, there were reports of over a foot of snow piling up overnight leaving nearly 70,000 people without power. Another 20,000 people from the bay State were also affected by the outage. By afternoon, nearly nine inches of snow had accumulated near Western Massachusetts. There were power outages in Vermont and Connecticut as well — albeit much smaller ones according to the Seattle Post-Intellegencer.

At this stage, there is no word on how long it would take for officials to restore power to Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, or Connecticut.

Are you among the people who have been affected by this unusual weather pattern, and the power outage that it has caused.

[Image Via Wikimedia Commons]

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