Politics & Government

UPDATED: Storm Knocks Out Power To More Than 10,000 Tewksbury Homes

Winter parking ban has been put into effect immediately.

Updated at 10 a.m.

The storm is over but the recovery has just begun and the impact may be long-lasting.

More than 10,000 Tewksbury homes and businesses, representing roughly 90 percent of the town, are without power this morning, after a bizarre snowstorm pushed its way through the Merrimack Valley.

Find out what's happening in Tewksburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Right now, we have 10,400 customers without power (in Tewksbury)," said National Grid spokesman David Graves. "That number has been pretty consistent all morning.

According to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, as of 9 a.m. 658,486 homes in the state were without power.

Find out what's happening in Tewksburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Initially, National Grid had indicated that most customers would have power restored by early this morning. However, the situation has worsened significantly overnight and the company backed off those estimates.

"We don't have estimates on when power will be restored," said Graves. "But we have internal crews on scene, as well as private crews. And we have additional crews coming in from the midwest, Ohio and Michigan, as well as North Carolina, to help."

Several traffic signals are dark, including the center of town at Main and Pleasant, adding to dangerous driving conditions.

plowing, sanding and salting, according to The winter parking ban, scheduled to go into effect next week, was put into effect yesterday and will continue throughout the winter season. This means that no on-street parking is permitted to allow plows complete access.

Tewksbury got roughly 6-8 inches of snow overnight. Winds were estimated at 15-25 mph with gusts up to 50 mph.

The heavy, wet snow, combind with the high winds, took down several trees, tree limbs and power lines, leading to the outages.

The total number of cutomers without power from this storm is significantly higher than the number who It took National Grid

"The biggest thing right now is safety," said Graves. "People need to know not to go near downed wires. And people can report downed wired by calling 1-800-465-1212."

Also, any National Grid customers without power who have life-sustaining equipment in their homes can call 1-800-322-3223.

Tewksbury Patch will continue to provide updates on the storm as more information becomes available.


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