What we know Saturday on Cape Cod: Power restoration, free meals, CO safety and more – Cape Cod Times

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Cape Cod Power Outage: Eversource talks about when will power be back

Eversource President and CEO Joe Nolan explaining when power will be back on the Cape

Ron Schloerb, Cape Cod Times

Times reporters are out in the field across Cape Cod reporting onthe aftermath of the "bomb cyclone" nor'easter that slammed into the regionTuesday and Wednesday. We will be updating this story throughout the day, providing information about power outages, emergency shelters, where to charge cellphones, transportation and more. Please scroll down to find the information.

If you have a question about these topics please email news@capecodonline.com and put "storm question" in the subject line and we will do our best to find the answer.

Power was restored to more than 50,000 Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard Eversource customers since Friday. As of 9 a.m. Saturday, about 8,175 customers were still without electricity, according to the Eversource Outage Map.

Bourne (2,892 customers) and Wareham (3,421 customers) have the highest percentage of customers without power. In Barnstable, about 2,000 customers are still in the dark and in Falmouth, about 1,200 customers have no electricity.

Eversource continues to promise power will be restored to 98% of customers by 6 p.m. Saturday, according to the company's schedule of restoration.

Below is a town-by-town list of Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard power restoration as of 9 a.m. Saturday.

AQUINNA, 2%

BARNSTABLE, 6%

BOURNE, 25%

BREWSTER, .5%

CHATHAM, .06%

CHILMARK, 17%

DENNIS, .5%

EASTHAM, 1%

EDGARTOWN, .4%

FALMOUTh, 4.5%

HARWICH, .1%

MASHPEE, .2%

OAK BLUFFS, .5%

ORLEANS, .1%

PROVINCETOWN,.02%

SANDWICH, 6.4%

TISBURY, 1%

TRURO, 1%

WAREHAM, 23%

WELLFLEET, .7%

WEST TISBURY, 2.6%

YARMOUTH, 2.4%

We are not going to sleep until every customer is on, said Joe Nolan, president and chief executive officer of Eversource at a 4 p.m. press conference Fridayin Falmouth. This is one of the largest efforts that Eversource has been involved in for quite some time and it is going very very smoothly.

Nolan was referring to the noreaster that brought heavy rains and winds that exceeded80 mph at its peak Tuesday evening, causing roughly 500,000 customers to lose power in eastern Massachusetts.

We were able to knock it down significantly with 1,600 crews from across the country and as far as Canada working around the clock, Nolan said.

Rough estimates from Thursday have been refined, he said, through an Eversource Town-Level Estimated Time of Restoration map, which can be found on the companywebsite (https://outagemap.eversource.com/external/default.html), and will reflect the day and time power will be restoredfor the vast majority of customers although he said complicated cases could remain an issue.

Every single circumstance is different due to different types of construction, but Ill tell you, the damage is severe, he said. I havent witnessed this type of damage in five to seven years. Sandy was very very bad, but this is a very serious storm, and every circumstance is different.

Along with power restoration, Eversource crews, according to a press release, areclearing blocked roads, repairing and replacing roughly 300 broken utility poles and restoring an estimated 80 miles of downed electric lines.

Nolan said crews picked up 25,000 outages overnight all of which were restored, he said. But with out-of-state crews reporting back to their home regions over the next few days, and a day of rain forecast for Saturday, customers could see a temporary loss of service including moments when Eversource crews continue to put the system back into a normal configuration.

In addition to residential areas, Nolan said the regions nursing facilities and schools have also had power restored.

Some chose not to open today, but all schools are back, Nolan said. Weve got all nursing facilities, critical facilities back.

Rachael Devaney

The Barnstable town website is reporting that free food is available for all of the town's public school students.Free Grab n Go meals will be given out from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 30, at Barnstable High School (rear of the building by tennis courts).

Cape Fire departments have been responding to an increasednumber of calls for carbon monoxide alarms somedue to power outages that triggered the alarms, others are due to misuse of generators.

Assistant Chief ofBourne Fire Department DavidPelonzisaid the department has been able to respond tocalls efficiently, due to increased staffing during thistime of emergency.

Carbon monoxide alarms go off for two reasons, said Mashpee FireChief Thomas Rullo.

The first reason ispower outages. When backup batteries go bad in the detectors, thedevices areprone to sound a false alarm.Weak or dead carbon monoxide detectors pose another risk: If someone is using a generator indoors or hasa high levelof carbon monoxide in their home for another reason, the detector may notpick up onit.

The second reason for carbon monoxide calls is that people are misusinggenerators. Rullo said that a lot of people are running generators in their garages to keep themfrom getting wet. This poses a serious risk, he said, since garages are oftenconnected to homes, or near enough for carbon monoxide to vent inside thehouse.

Rullos advice is to follow the manufacturersinstructions sinceeach generator is different. Some may ask that the owner put thegenerator five feet away from the house,othersmay require 10 feet.

Harwich Fire Chief David Leblanc said it'sbestto have a planbeforehand as to where to put thegeneratorto avoidscrambling for a place to put it during astorm.

As for where you put it, a sheltered area thatwontleak carbon monoxide into your home is the best place. However, Leblanc echoed Rullos advice, saying that reading amanufacturer'sinstructions is key to safety.

Residents in need of a place to charge phones and warm-up on Friday through Sunday can go to the following locations. Most locations advised residents to bring their own chargers.

YMCA Cape Cod,located at 2245 Iyannough Road inWest Barnstable, opened its doors to those who need to charge devices, warm-up, use Wi-Fi and take showers; services are free through Sunday.The YMCA is open until 8:30 p.m. onFriday, from7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.

West Barnstable Fire Department, located at 2160 Meetinghouse Way, isopen Friday for residents to warm up, charge devices, and access the internet (WIFI Password: 2942972960). Residents can also fill water containers for cooking or flushing toilets there, or from 500-gallon water tanks available at two locations: intersection of Cedar Street andBarnhill Road, and the old fire station at 1733 Main St.

Barnstable Adult Community Center, located at 825 Falmouth Road in Hyannis, will beopen until 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

Cotuit Library, located at 871 Main St., will beopen until 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

Bourne Fire Station #3, located at 51 Meeting House Lane in Sagamore, will be open until 3:30 p.m. on Friday. Please do not go to the community center, as the generator there broke.

Room B in Town Hall, located at 2198 Main Street, will be open until 3 p.m. on Friday.

Chatham Community Center, located at 702 Main Street, will be open until 8 p.m. on Friday.

Eastham Public Library, located at 190 Samoset Road, will be openon Friday.Public Wi-Fi is also available in its parking lot.

Gus Canty Community Center, located at 790 Main St., will be openuntil 5 p.m. Friday.

Falmouth Senior Center, located at 780 Main St., will be open until 4 p.m. Friday.

Officials advise residents to sign up for free FalmouthAlert for further updates: text falmouthmaalert to 67283 or visit https://www.smart911.com/smart911/ref/reg.action?pa=falmouthma to sign up.

The town Emergency Operations Center can be reached at 508-495-2602.

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The Harwich Community Center, at 100 Oak St., will be open until 4 p.m. onFriday.

The Brooks Free Library, at 739 Main St., will be open until 4 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdayfor residents in need of charging ports, heat and internet.

CapeSpace, located at 13 Steeple St., in Mashpee Commons, is open until 6 p.m. on Friday.

Orleans Town Hall, 19 School Road, will offer a charging station and warming center from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, staffed by Community Emergency Response Team volunteers.

The Human Services Building, located at270 Quaker Meetinghouse Road, will be open until 8 p.m. on Friday.

Yarmouth Senior Center, located at 528 Forest Road in West Yarmouth, will be open until 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

The Cultural Center of Cape Cod, located at 307 Old Main St. in South Yarmouth, will be open until 5 p.m. onFriday, and from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Jeannette Hinkle

Posted at 12:30p.m.

Eversource released aschedule of whenpower will be restored to towns on Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and elsewhere in Massachusetts. Below are the dates and times residents across the region can expect the lights to come on:

Barnstable: Saturdayat 6 p.m.

Bourne: Saturdayat 6 p.m.

Brewster: Saturday at noon

Storm Damage Cape Cod: Cape Cod residents pick up the pieces after destructive nor'easter

Chatham: Friday at 6 p.m.

Dennis: Friday at 11:59 p.m.

Eastham: Saturdayat 6 p.m.

Edgartown: Fridayat 8 p.m.

Falmouth: Saturdayat 6 p.m.

Harwich: Fridayat 6 p.m.

Hyannis: Substantially Complete

Mashpee: Fridayat 6 p.m.

Oak Bluffs: Fridayat 11:59 p.m.

Orleans: Fridayat 11:59 p.m.

Provincetown: Substantially Complete

Sagamore: Substantially Complete

Sandwich: Fridayat 6 p.m.

Tisbury: Fridayat 11:59 p.m.

Truro: Fridayat 11:59 p.m.

Power outage maps: Nor'easter triggers power outages across eastern, southern Massachusetts. Here's where

Wareham: Saturdayat 6 p.m.

Wellfleet: Fridayat 11:59 p.m.

West Tisbury: Saturdayat 2 p.m.

Yarmouth: Saturdayat 6 p.m.

Posted at 6 a.m.

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What we know Saturday on Cape Cod: Power restoration, free meals, CO safety and more - Cape Cod Times