cold weather

Over 19,000 Without Power as Temps Hit Historic Lows in New England

It felt 25 to 50 degrees below 0 across the region Saturday morning

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As a deep freeze continues to impact New England on Saturday morning, thousands of customers were in the dark across the region, although the number of outages was decreased between Friday night and early Saturday morning.

There were more than 60,000 customers across New England without power around 8:30 p.m., but that number went down to around 12,000 around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. The sun came out, but temperatures remained feeling 25 to 50 degrees below 0 across the region.

Get the latest forecast on the cold and wind chill here.

The extreme temperatures have prompted an increase in 911 calls for requests to check on people outside in Boston.

Massachusetts

There are almost 6,000 customers without power statewide as of 8:30 a.m., according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency's outage map..

National Grid workers were standing by to address any issues with the utility's infrastructure, a representative said.

"We’re monitoring the weather reports and taking steps to make sure we’re ready to keep our customers warm and safe during this cold snap. We urge our customers to stay indoors and be prepared for the frigid cold,” said Tanya Moniz-Witten, vice president for Electric Operations for New England, in a statement.

NBC10 Boston's cameras were rolling as the power went off in a Chelsea neighborhood Friday night.

"Lights went out and very cold," said Alexandra Jimenez, who was home alone on this frigid night. "I said, 'Oh, oh, we're in trouble.'"

Officials are urging people to take precautions, check on their neighbors and call 911 if you see an unhoused person outside.

New Hampshire

More than 271 customers had lost power across the state's power utility companies as of around 8:30 a.m.

Vermont

There were 8 customers without power statewide on Saturday, according to the Vermont Outages page.

Maine

More than 8,500 customers were without power in Maine around 8:30.m., according to Central Maine Power.

Rhode Island

There were scattered small outages across the state Friday afternoon affecting around 1,500, according to Rhode Island Energy.

Connecticut

Over 3,500 customers had lost power in Connecticut as of around 8:30 a.m., Eversource reported.

Boston is bracing for what is predicted to be a brutally cold snap of weather, as Arctic air sweeps into New England

Cold weather issues to watch out for:

Shelters for unhoused people may become overwhelmed and have to turn people away. In Boston, South Station was being opened to the unhoused.

Transportation could be affected by the cold weather — the MBTA was monitoring its railways for issues and planning to keep as many vehicles inside as possible to protect them from the elements. Transportation officials were warning that people flying to and from Logan airport check about delays or cancellations due to the cold.

With people running space heaters to help stay warm inside, the risk of fire, especially overnight, is heightened. Compounding that, fire hydrants can freeze over in the cold, complicating the response for firefighters, along with the low temperatures and strong winds.

Water main breaks are more likely in cold weather as well.

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