State of emergency declared

Ice Storm 2008

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December 12, 2008

Anonymous The Eagle Tribune Fri Dec 12, 2008, 12:16 PM EST

Power is out and schools and roads are closed across the Merrimack Valley and Southern New Hampshire as an ice storm grips much of New England.

It could be days before all customers have their power back.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency as problems mounted. The declaration allows Patrick to mobilize the National Guard and other emergency assets and assist local communities in their response to the storm.

"This is a really extreme situation we are experiencing," said Jackie Barry, a spokeswoman for National Grid, which had about 100,000 electric customers without power as of 5 a.m., mostly in the Merrimack Valley and Central Massachusetts.

Peter Judge of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency called the problems "significant" and said many small towns have declared states of emergency.

In New Hampshire, Public Service of New Hampshire reports that about 200,000 of the 500,000 homes and businesses it serves were without power as of this morning. The utility says it could take several days to have power fully restored as the storm continues.

The National Weather Service has issued an ice storm warning until 10 a.m.

Ice is collecting on tree limbs, weighing them down until they snap and come down on power lines. The transmission lines themselves are also being iced up. Barry warned against approaching down lines, even if they don't appear to be live.

The New Hampshire Electric Cooperative says more than 41,000 of its homes and businesses also have no power.

Fire departments all over the state are responding to reports of transformer explosions, wires and utility poles down, trees burning on wires, or trees falling on homes.

In Haverhill, Deputy Police Chief Donald Johnson held over the overnight shift to deal with emergencies. Power lines and trees were down everywhere.

One big tree fell across South Main Street in Bradford and an officer was posted to direct traffic around it until overbooked highway crews could clear the tree. Only a few pockets in town had power, including part of the downtown.

A tree branch fell on the deck at 13 Acorn St., Haverhill, around 1:30 a.m. destroying the deck."It was so scary when it hit," said Larisa Yakushian of Haverhill. "We couldn't sleep after that."

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