Thursday, March 8, 2018

Transportation and Power Outage Update

MASSACHUSETTS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS STATEMENT

DATE: March 8th, 2018
TIME: 11:15 AM
SUBJECT: March 7- 8 Nor'easter Update


POWER OUTAGES
Significant heavy/wet snowfall and winds are the primary drivers of the current outages. The most heavily impacted areas with significant outages are Central MA, the Merrimack Valley, and the North Shore of MA.

Eversource and National Grid have representatives present along with DPU at the SEOC. Restoration is expected to be a multi-day event.

There are a total of 351,912 customer outages statewide as of 10:47 AM.
  • National Grid: 283938
  • Eversource East: 67972
  • Eversource West: 2
  • Unitil: 0

 SHELTER OPERATIONS
Given the number of outages seen across the state and considering this could be a multi-day outage event, the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) has received calls inquiring about shelter operations. MEMA is encouraging communities to assess their need for shelter operations and activate local or locally-initiated regional shelters in accordance with your plans/protocols.  In addition, we are working with the Red Cross at the SEOC to facilitate support of local and regional shelter operations. We ask that communities that are standing up local or regional shelters to enter that information into WebEOC and contact your MEMA Regional Office or the State EOC at 508-820-2000.  If a community needs support please enter your request in WebEOC or contact your Regional Office or the State EOC. 

MEMA OPERATIONS
The State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) is activated at Level 2 (Partial Activation). Representatives from the following agencies and organizations are in the SEOC to support this event:
  • Department of Public Utilities
  • Eversource
  • National Grid
  • MA Department of Public Health
  • Department of Environmental Protection
  • MA Emergency Management Agency
  • American Red Cross
  • MA State Police
  • MassDOT

All of MEMA’s Regional Emergency Operations Centers (EOC), located in Agawam, Tewksbury and Bridgewater are activated.

Resource requests and questions should be directed to MEMA’s Regional Offices in Bridgewater, Tewksbury, and Agawam, or to MEMA’s 24/7 Communications Center at 508-820-2000.

The SEOC will continue to monitor the effects of this storm and disseminate additional Situational Awareness Statements as necessary.

Preparedness and Safety Information

Stay Informed:
Utilize Massachusetts Alerts to receive emergency notifications and information from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service.  Massachusetts Alerts is a free app that is available for Android and iPhones. To learn more about Massachusetts Alerts, and for information on how to download the free app onto your smartphone, visit: http://www.mass.gov/service-details/massachusetts-alerts-smartphone-app.
Utilize MEMA’s real-time power outage viewer to stay informed about current power outages in your community and region, and across the state, including information from utility companies about restoration times: http://mema.mapsonline.net/public.html
Utilize MEMA’s live weather radar and forecasting tools: http://www.mass.gov/map-resources
Online Resources:
For additional information and resources, visit:
Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency at www.mass.gov/mema
MEMA's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/MassachusettsEMA
MEMA Twitter: @MassEMA
Federal Emergency Management Agency at www.fema.gov
National Weather Service/Taunton at www.weather.gov/boston
National Weather Service/Albany, NY at www.weather.gov/albany
National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center: http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov
National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center:  http://www.spc.noaa.gov/
Mass211 at www.mass211.org

Posted by Bruce Tarr at 12:23 PM