Category Archives: Sandy

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Green Mountain Power is offering safety tips GMP offered customers the following safety tips:

• Call 911 for any life-threatening emergencies.
• Treat any downed line as if it is live. Report the line to your local utility and fire department, stay at least 50 feet away from the line, and keep children and pets away as well.
• If using a generator, read and follow the owner’s manual before starting it. Never operate a generator inside any structure or near a structure.  Use a transfer switch to ensure electricity is not accidentally fed onto a line where line crews must work.
• Keep freezers and refrigerators closed as much as possible to prevent food spoilage.
• If power goes out, turn off all electrical appliances except one light so you’ll know when service returns.  Then, turn equipment back on slowly.
• Never use grills inside garages, sheds or other buildings, as the fumes can be poisonous.

While the worst of the storm may be over for Vermont, damaging winds are still causing problems for power crews.

Green Mountain Power, in a press release, said as of 7:30 a.m., crews have restored service to 28,693 of the 36,000 customers affected, while 7,344 remain without service.

“Crews have been working hard through the night, and we have made tremendous progress even as Mother Nature kept adding to the damage,” GMP spokesman Jeremy Baker said. Continue reading →

Cristina Kumka / Staff Photo

A tree on Seabury Street in Rutland took down some power lines but narrowly missed the neighbors house.

Vyto Starinskas / Staff Photo

By Cristina Kumka and Bruce Edwards

The state was spared the worst of the monster storm that slammed the East Coast when Hurricane Sandy hit landfall further south of where it was predicted to hit, Jason Nielson, a staff meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Burlington, said Tuesday.

The worst of the storm’s winds, which reached speeds of up to 60 mph in the Rutland area produced little damage and far fewer power outages than many feared.

There were a few downed trees in the city limits but only 1 household without power as of 6:30 a.m., according to the Green Mountain Power outage site.

Statewide, there were 35,000 power outages at the storm’s peak overnight, said Steve Terry of Green Mountain Power.

But by 4 a.m. that number had been whittled to fewer than 8,000 across Vermont.

According to Nielsen, Vermont was spared because the storm made landfall just south of predictions.

“It’s just where Sandy came ashore,” Nielson said. “All the numbers we had given were geared on it coming ashore in central New Jersey or northern New jersey … and it came ashore just about 50 to 75 miles south and that was enough to shunt everything just to the south and keep it like from Bennington and Windham (counties).”

Neilson said Vermont can expect scattered showers throughout the course of the day today. He said Vermont is no longer under a wind warning. Nielson said that’s been replaced with a wind advisory, meaning there could be gusts of up to 50 miles per hour.

The Vermont State Emergency Operations Center has scheduled a press conference for 11 a.m. today to provide an update on the state’s response to Hurricane Sandy.

The press conference was announced in a news release late last night.

Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn, and Vermont Emergency Management Director Joe Flynn will lead the briefing at the State Emergency Operations Center at 11a.m. located at the Department of Public Safety in Waterbury, Vermont.

“We can provide an update and damage assessment during the press briefing,” said Vermont Emergency Management Director Joe Flynn.

Individuals are encouraged to stay tuned to local media to track the progress of the storm, according to the release.

If you have lost power and run a generator, make sure it is always run outside and that exhaust is NOT entering the home. Every home should have a carbon monoxide detector.

For more tips visit: http://vem.vermont.gov/preparedness.