'We’re still in the middle of it': Eversource says Cape Cod power outage will last days (2024)

BARNSTABLE — As utility workers took rain-soaked chainsaws to the trunks of toppled trees across Cape Cod on Wednesday, local, county and state officials, representatives from Eversource and meteorologist Frank O’Laughlin were camped out in the Multi-Agency Coordination Center (MACC) planning the region’s emergency response to an ongoing storm that has left more than 150,000 Cape and Islands customers without power.

On Wednesday at 6 p.m. a shelter was opened at Barnstable Intermediate School, 895 Falmouth Road, Hyannis. Pets allowed. For more information visithttps://www.bcrepc.org/.

As the nor'easter moved toward the Cape Tuesday night, some team members, including Barnstable County Emergency Preparedness Specialist William "Chip" Reilly, worked from the MACC room — located in the old chapel at the former Barnstable County jail off Route 6A in Barnstable Village — overnight.

Others, including Sean O’Brien, Barnstable County’s emergency preparedness coordinator and director of the county department of health and environment, arrived before dawn.

“The roads were pretty rough,” O’Brien said.

As gusts rattled the windows in his office Wednesday afternoon, O’Brien compared the storm lashing the eastern half of the state to 2013’s Winter Storm Nemo “without the snow.” That storm, which made landfall in the dead of winter, caused widespread power outages that lasted as long as a week for some customers.

“We’re looking at such a heavy load of power outages,” O’Brien said. “The benefit is that the temperatures are not cold.”

Provincetown power outage:Power outages across Outer Cape, gusts to 83 mph in Wellfleet overnight

Keep up to date:Download the Cape Cod Times app

O’Brien, who had just finished a conference call with leadership from all of the Cape’s towns, said that the MACC team has been focused on prioritizing the region’s most pressing needs as the storm continues to blow.

“Eversource is out in all the towns,” he said. “What they’re trying to do is cut and clear, and once all those things are done, they’re going to start working on power restoration. Long-term care facilities. Hospitals. Public safety buildings. Those are our priorities, get them up and running.”

O’Brien said he doesn’t anticipate any serious delays to local police or fire response, and urged people to call for help if they need it.

List of Massachusetts school closings Wednesday:Nor'easter knocks out power and causes damage

Tracking the outages:Nor'easter triggers power outages across eastern, southern Massachusetts. Here's where

More shelters may be open if towns express a need for them.

“Our biggest thing right now is trying to get power back to people if possible," O'Brien said. But if folks do need some assistance in terms of a shelter they should contact theirtown officials.

'We’re still in the middle of it': Eversource says Cape Cod power outage will last days (2)

William Hinkle, (no relation to the reporter) director of media relations for Eversource, said Wednesday morning that restoring power to the Cape and Islands will be a multi-day effort.

O’Brien urged Cape residents to stay off of the roads as long as possible.

“Folks are out there trying to restore power,” he said. "We do not know how long it will takebecause we’re still in the middle of it. We have to wait until the winds die down."

— Jeannette Hinkle

Posted 5:20 p.m.

Martha's Vineyard has highest winds:Here are the wind gusts reported on Cape Cod during the storm

Not much progress restoring Cape Cod power

Outages on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard have remained high over the course of the day.

As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, 72% of Eversource's electric customers on the Cape and Martha's Vineyard were withoutpower, or 144,692 customers, according to Eversource's online outage map. The extent of the outages showed a slight improvement from the 77% of customers who didn't have powerWednesday morning inthe region.

On the Cape, all Eversource customers in Provincetown were without power late Wednesday afternoon, followed by Bourne at 98%, Falmouth at 94%, Sandwich at 91% and Orleans at 91%.

'We’re still in the middle of it': Eversource says Cape Cod power outage will last days (3)

Here's a breakdown of total outages and percentage of customers without powerby town on the Cape and Martha's Vineyard as of 4 p.m.:

AQUINNAH 565, 100%

CHILMARK 1,872, 100%

PROVINCETOWN 5,983, 100%

BOURNE 11,454, 98%

FALMOUTH, 24,276, 94%

SANDWICH 10,144, 91%

ORLEANS 6,149, 91%

WELLFLEET 3,791, 80%

Barnstable Municipal Airport open but with scaled back operations

Barnstable Municipal Airport is open, but with operations significantly scaled back, said Assistant Airport Manager Matthew Elia, adding that it is a “typical check with your airline type of day.”

Elia said that Cape Air has reduced service, but some flights are operating.

Tom Cahir of the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority said that all the seven fixed bus routes are running, but the “dial-a-ride” service has cancellations.

The Transit Authority is operating at nearly full service but likely not all on schedule, since there are detours and delays on the roads, he said.

According to a Travel Advisory on the Steamship Authority’s website, all services between the Cape and Islands are canceled through Wednesday.

— Asad Jung

Posted 3:30 p.m.

Eversource: Cape Cod power outages will last days as high winds continue to cause damage

Restoring power to the Cape and Islands— and other parts of the state will be a multi-day effort, William Hinkle, director of media relations for Eversource, told the Times Wednesday morning.

Barnstable County and the South Shore were among the hardest-hit areas in Massachusetts.As of about 11:30 a.m., about 155,000 customers were without power on the Cape and Islands, or about 77% of all customers in the region, according to the utility's online outage map.

"The system is still taking on damage," he said. "We're still in the damage assessment phase."

Tracking the outages:Nor'easter triggers power outages across eastern, southern Massachusetts. Here's where

Eversource has been restoring power where it safely can, he said. But the outage map shows little change from earlier Wednesday morning for Cape Cod.

'We’re still in the middle of it': Eversource says Cape Cod power outage will last days (4)

He didn't supply details for the entire Cape, but he said that in the town of Barnstable there were 25,000 households without power. (Scroll down to see town-by-town outage numbers.)

Hinkle said there are hundreds of line, tree and service crews across the state working to restorepower.Eversource is looking to bring in additional crews from elsewhere.

Eversource has 200 linecrews on the Cape and is using the parking lot at Barnstable High School as part of its staging area.

Each town has been assigned a liaison to assess need and address power outages.

County officials said National Grid, Verizon, Comcast, and Open Cape are using generators to run critical sites and “are responding to broken fiber issues that have led to localized service outages.

Restoring power will be a multi-day effort, Hinkle said. Power will not be fully restored to the whole region today.

Sean O’Brien, Barnstable County’s emergency preparedness coordinator and director of the county department of health and environment, said, “Eversource is out in all the towns.”

O’Brien said he doesn’t anticipate any serious delays to local police or fire response, and urged people to call for help if they need it.

Cape Cod hospitals open, urgent care clinics closed

Cape Cod Healthcare officials said Wednesday that all external facilities — including urgent care centers, lab services and affiliated physicians' offices — are closed due to weather conditions and "significant power outages."

More from the region:Thousands without power, schools closed as storm rips through RI

Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Falmouth Hospital and the VNA remain open.

— Cynthia McCormick

Posted 11:10 a.m.

Police and fire departments 'out straight'due to storm

Police and fire department personnel have been 'out straight' since midnight according to a dispatcher from the Bourne fire department.

"We're inundated," said a police dispatcher in Barnstable.

More storm news:Reports of damage continue to pile up on wind-whipped South Shore

Lt. Jonathan Talin with the Hyannis Fire Department said lights were out at the intersection of Route 132 and Independence Avenue and other locations.

'We’re still in the middle of it': Eversource says Cape Cod power outage will last days (5)

"There are a ton of wires down, trees down andlights out," he said.

The West Barnstable fire department posted messages on social media for travelers to avoid Route 6A between High Street and the Sandwich town line because ocean water had flooded the highway. They advised drivers to not drive through water.

— Denise Coffey

Posted at 10:10 a.m.

Thousands on Cape and Islands without power, trees toppled, schools closed

A powerful nor'easter hit the Cape and Islands overnight, toppling trees and leaving about 77% of Eversource customerswithout electricity across the region this morning.

'We’re still in the middle of it': Eversource says Cape Cod power outage will last days (6)

Schools on Cape Cod are closed today, andSteamship Authorityferry service is suspended until further notice.

The highest wind gust recorded in the storm was 94 mph on Martha's Vineyard at the Chappy Ferry dock, according to the National Weather Service's forecast office in Boston. Winds also exceeded 80 mph across the Cape, with reports of 84 mph gusts in Dennis and 83 mph gusts in Wellfleet. Many roads are impassible because of the number of downed trees.

List of Massachusetts school closings:Nor'easter knocks out power and causes damage

'We’re still in the middle of it': Eversource says Cape Cod power outage will last days (7)

The National Weather Service issued a High Wind Warning through5 p.m. today. Travel will be difficult especially for high-profile vehicles. A Coastal Flood Warning is also in place until 7 p.m.

Some Cape and Island towns totallywithout power

According to Eversource's online outage map, about 155,840 customers were without power as of 9:15 this morning. Here's a breakdown of total outages and percentage of customers without powerby town on the Cape and Martha's Vineyard:

CHILMARK 1,873, 100%

AQUINNAH 565, 100%

PROVINCETOWN 5,982, 100%

BOURNE 11,678, 99%

WEST TISBURY 2,703, 99%

SANDWICH 10,874, 97%

FALMOUTH 23,701, 91%

ORLEANS 6,130, 91%

TRURO 3,168, 86%

WELLFLEET 3,768, 79%

BARNSTABLE 24,254, 77%

YARMOUTH 14,289, 76%

HARWICH 8,479, 74%

EASTHAM 4,607, 69%

CHATHAM 5,808, 68%

DENNIS 11,049, 64%

MASHPEE 7,487, 61%

EDGARTOWN 3,647, 59%

BREWSTER 4,954, 55%

OAK BLUFFS 824, 17%