WEST LEBANON — Utility crews across the Twin States were working Wednesday to clear tree limbs and replace wires after high winds from Tropical Storm Isaias knocked out power to thousands of customers.
New Hampshire Electric Cooperative said wind gusts over 50 mph “caused extensive damage” throughout its service territory and knocked out power to 37,000 customers. Power had been restored by midday Wednesday to 23,000, but NHEC projected that “a substantial number” of outages would last until late evening Thursday, with “smaller scattered outages” continuing through Friday.
Eversource said it had restored power to more than 125,000 customers across the state by Wednesday evening, but about 16,000 Eversource customers remained without power.
One of the hard-hit towns was Lyme, where sections of River Road and Dorchester Road remained closed Wednesday afternoon because of downed trees with wires involved, according to a Listserv post from Aaron Rich of the Lyme Fire Department.
Rich warned residents to not to approach a downed power line, saying “they are extremely dangerous and can be energized even when they appear dead.”
In Vermont, where strong winds and heavy rain hit late Tuesday, Green Mountain Power said it had restored power to more than 36,000 customers, with about 780 still without service Wednesday evening.
Most of the damage was concentrated in southern Vermont and running north in the Upper Valley through White River Junction, GMP said.
GMP said restoration “in some of the hardest-hit places” might not occur until Thursday.
The storm may also have contributed to the death of a woman in North Conway. A woman was found dead inside a house and another woman was trapped after a tree fell onto the building during Isaias, police said.