MANCHESTER, NH – A blustery rain pounded Manchester Sunday night, keeping police, fire and utility companies busy for downed trees and wires and road closures. Heavy rain and wind expected to continue into the morning.
Due to widespread overnight outages in Manchester and many disabled traffic lights and storm related road hazards, school was canceled Monday in Manchester and Bedford.
Police Sunday night issued a warning for the possibility of street flooding and ponding, as well as the hazard of wet leaves creating slippery conditions and clogging storm drains. Police recommended drivers reduce speed while on the roadways.
- At 1 a.m. Manchester Police reported via Nixle that a traffic light was down and live wires were exposed on Bremer Street between Adeline Street and Coolidge Avenue on the city’s West Side. Police remained on the on scene and Eversource was notified.
- In another early-morning incident, trees and wires were reported down near 540 Shasta St., between Lincoln and Wilson streets. Police closed the road, and remained on the scene, along with fire crews.
- Maple Street was closed between Salmon and Webster streets due to trees down in the road as of 2 a.m.
Power outages were cropping up around the state, with heaviest concentration in southern New Hampshire. You can get an update on the number of power outages via the Eversource Outage Map. There were 60,564 customers without power as of 2 a.m.
As of 7:15 a.m. Eversource reported 193,341 customers without power, and issued the following statement via Facebook around 6 a.m.
“We have about 180,000 customers without power throughout the state as a result of extensive damage to the energy system resulting from high winds that brought trees and branches down onto the power lines. We continue to sustain additional damage to the system from high winds that are expected to continue throughout the day, and our crews are assessing damage that was caused by the storm overnight. In addition to almost 400 tree and line workers clearing storm damage and repairing the system as quickly as is safely possible, we have requested additional crews to assist with this significant restoration effort. Please be aware of downed power lines and stay away from wires and trees in the road. Report any downed wires to 9-1-1 right away, and be sure to report any outages online at Eversource.com or by calling 800-662-7764.”
Police reported traffic lights were out at the following intersections:
- Maple Street/ Valley Street
- Cilley Street/ Maple Street
- Bridge Street/ Mammoth Road
- South Street/ Cilley Rpad
- McGregor Square
- Amory Street/ Bridge Street
Other “hazardous areas” include the following:
- Elliot Place/ River Road
- Clarke Street/ River Road
- Heavey Street/ Amory Street
- 120 Huse Road
- 130 Huse Road
Hooksett Police also reported a list of road closures in both directions, including
- West River Rd. (3A) in between the 93 rest stop and Pine St..
- Hackett Hill Rd. in between South Bow Rd. and Brown Rd.
- Riverside St. in between West River Rd. (3A) and Main St.
And the following roads were reportedly obstructed or down to one lane:
- Mammoth Road (28A) in the area of Morrill Road
- West Alice Ave. in between Bell Ave. and Donati Dr.
- Hackett Hill Rd. in the area of #251
