CVPS repairs to cost $3.6M
By SUSAN ALLEN Staff WriterPublished: February 28, 2010
MONTPELIER – Vermont utilities will continue working today to restore power to thousands of homes still in the dark after last week's weather mess that combined several days' worth of wet, heavy snow and high winds to spark well over 130,000 reports of power outages across the state.
"We're still cleaning up, and we'll be here through tomorrow, as well," said Central Vermont Public Service Corp. spokeswoman Christine Rivers on Saturday. "We're all a little punchy."
Rivers said throughout the course of the various storms, a record 91,700 outages were reported to CVPS. Some were homes that lost power, had power restored, then lost power again.
Rivers said additional crews have been brought in from other New England states and Canada to speed the effort to restore power, adding, "These folks are pulling 16- and 18-hour shifts."
The company estimated the outages would cost $3.6 million – one of the five most expensive in CVPS history, Rivers said.
Because of the duration of the storm, which began Tuesday and Wednesday with deep snowfall, then saw high winds sweep over the region Thursday and Friday, followed by more wet, heavy snow into Saturday morning, some customers have been without power for days. Others have had power restored, only to lose it again in a subsequent snowfall or wind blast, Rivers said.
"This is certainly the storm that does not seem to want to end," she said. "That's one of the unique things about this storm. It's done more widespread damage … every single district in our service area has been affected."...
February 27, 2010
Rutland, Vermont
Photographer states :: NOAA reported a peak wind gust of 58mph but this makes me think higher. This is 4 miles from the NOAA reporting station.
Wind, snow to worsen today (click here)
By Brent Curtis STAFF WRITERPublished: February 25, 2010
As bad as the weather was Wednesday in Vermont, today is expected to be worse, with high winds blowing snow and rain through areas still digging out from under a two-day storm that dumped more than a foot of snow.
"It may be worse than what we're seeing today because of the wind," said Barbara Farr, Vermont emergency management director. "What we've been told to expect is winds of 40 to 50 mph and the windstorm in Rutland was specifically mentioned for comparison."
The windstorm Farr referred to is what many Rutlanders call the "Nor'icane" a violent storm that descended on the city in April 2007. The brief but extremely gusty storm knocked down thousands of trees and cut power to the city for almost a week.
The windstorm today - featuring rain at elevations under 1,500 feet and snow in the higher regions - was expected to begin about six hours after the storm that dumped snow on the state Tuesday and Wednesday departed.
For power companies that spent the day trying to restore power to thousands of homes where electricity lines were cut by the heavy, wet snow, the prospect of another natural calamity in less than 72 hours wasn't welcome news.
"With the (Nor'icane) there was no heavy, wet snow already on the lines," said Christine Rivers, spokeswoman for Central Vermont Public Service. "We're trying to ramp up for this as much as we can but it's going to be a very long week."
Rivers said her utility spent Wednesday trying to restore power to more than 40,000 customers. By 5:15 p.m., more than 42,000 CVPS customers had reported outages during the day. Line crews restored service to more than 24,000 customers....
