Hundreds of lineworkers are working around the clock, and so far, have restored power to more than 75,000 customers after a heavy wet snow storm slammed Vermont starting Monday night. In all, more than 97,000 customers have lost power during this storm and in some areas, the outage totals continue to come in with new damage.
GMP estimates most of the remaining customers will have power back on by Friday night, but some outages in the hardest hit areas of Vermont may last into Saturday, or in some cases Sunday. Central and Southern Vermont along the Eastern side of the Green Mountains have the most widespread damage.
Individual towns, Vermont Emergency Management, and the American Red Cross are assessing the need for shelters in areas impacted by extended power outages. GMP is providing those entities with projected restoration times to aid in that assessment.
State emergency officials say overnight shelters are open in these locations:
- Barre Municipal Auditorium: 16 Auditorium Hill, opening at 6 p.m. People may bring pets to this shelter. Local officials request that people enter through the double glass doors to the right of the main granite stairway and take the elevator to the basement. People are asked to park by the stairway rather than in the rear of the building.
- Hartford High School: 37 Highland Avenue, opening at 6 p.m. People may bring pets to this shelter.
- Rochester Elementary School: 222 Main Street, opened at 3 p.m.
A complete list of standby shelters along with warming centers, which are open during the daytime, is available at the Vermont Emergency Management website, https://vem.vermont.gov.
Individuals also can call 2-1-1 to find an overnight shelter or a warming center, or to report their current needs. That information is shared with Vermont Emergency Management to help determine the areas of greatest need for warming or overnight accommodations.
GMP is also opening its district offices in Royalton, Brattleboro, Sunderland and Springfield to customers who need food, a place to charge their phone, or a warm spot.
GMP is urging safety for customers.
- If you don’t have power and can’t be safe in your home, you can reach out to 211 for shelters in your area.
- Stay away from downed lines and downed trees, they can be hidden by snow.
- Watch out for power and emergency crews who will be working with large vehicles in narrow, snow-loaded roadways.
To get the latest information on outages and restoration times, customers can sign up for text service alerts, by texting REG to 46788 or GMPVT, or signing up online at greenmountainpower.com/textalerts. Customers can also sign up for GMP’s app to report outages with a touch of a finger at the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and search for GMP. Customers may also report outages by calling 1-888-835-4672, or visiting GMP’s Outage Center page at www.greenmountainpower.com.
