Crews working to restore power following Friday’s storm

(WGGB/WSHM) -- Work continues to restore power after thousands were left without electricity from Friday’s storm.

As of 8:30 a.m. Friday, Eversource reported 5,706 total outages, while National Grid reported over 5,100 total outages in the four western Massachusetts counties.

Outages were also reported in Westfield and Holyoke.

By approximately 2 p.m., the total outages across the region had decreased to over 3,200.

Western Mass News spoke with Eversource spokesperson Priscilla Ress, who told us crews will continue to work through the rest of this storm.

“What we’re trying to do is stay on top of it. We are fully staffed. We will be working until everybody has their lights back on and that means we have a lot of our crews that have also been told there is no vacation, there is no time with the family until this is cleared up and they understand it and they are out there,” Ress explained.

National Grid told us they have nearly 2,000 personnel in the Bay State responding to power outages. They said in a statement, in part:

“The widespread storm brought high winds, heavy rain and some peak gusts of up to 60 mph. We have crews on the ground throughout Massachusetts, making repairs and working to restore power in challenging conditions as quickly and safely as possible.”

One of the concerns with the rain mixed with low temperatures is the potential for ice to develop on the wires and branches which could cause more downed wires and trees in the area. National Grid spokesperson Bob Kievra told Western Mass News that they’ve got crews on standby for later tonight.

“Some of our crews will go away later today and new crews will take their place overnight. Obviously, the temperatures will be dropping tonight, the winds may still be in force, so the crews are ready for that,” Kievra added.

National Grid is urging the public to report any down wires or trees to them as soon as possible, so they can restore power to homes as quickly as possible.

For more on power outages, click here.

For road closures, click here.

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