 "Photo: Andrew Gilbert")
Yesterday morning, Durham residents shared outlets in the Bagelry, charging their laptops, cell phones and iPods while juggling young kids who had the day off from school.
It was just one of many such scenes that played out again and again over the weekend. Both the university and the town have been working to clean up after Thursday night’s windstorm, which reached a maximum wind of 91 mph near Portsmouth, NH.
The storm caused the second largest power outage in the area since the ice storm in December 2008. The Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH) reported that as of yesterday evening 40 percent of Durham was still without power, and estimated that these residents could be without power until Wednesday.
The whole UNH campus lost power Thursday night at approximately 10 p.m. and a UNH campus alert stated that there were rolling black outs at that time. Power on campus was completely restored by noon on Friday. The university was closed Friday.
The Town of Durham released a press statement that stated that 81 roads in Durham were still without power including Bagdad, Durham Point, Mill and Oyster River Road as of 1 p.m. yesterday. Sunnyside, School House Lane and Emerson Roads were completely or partially closed as of 1 p.m. yesterday.
Two of the university and town’s water tanks located on Beech Hill Road and Foss Farm Road are still without water, putting stress on water distribution.
PSNH estimated yesterday that 27,000 customers in New Hampshire are still without power.
Governor John Lynch came to Durham yesterday afternoon to meet with town and UNH officials regarding power outages to assess if more state help is needed.
The Oyster River School was shut down yesterday and is set to resume session today.
More than 200 residents took advantage of the warming center set up in the Whittemore Center this weekend. The center included comforts such as wireless access, showers and at least 20 cots for the community’s use.
Thomas Byron, grounds and events manager said that approximately 50 trees fell down across the UNH campus. His crews were at work starting at 2:30 a.m. Friday morning. Their first priority was to clear the campus’ roads and walkways.
“We try to take care of all the hazards first so students can move safely,” said Byron.
Their efforts were complicated when snow began to fall Saturday morning, as the department is responsible for snow removal as well.
“We had to stop what we were doing with the trees and take care of the snow,” said Byron.
“The only thing it compares to is the ice storm,” said Byron. “The ice storm we had more branches down, whereas with this storm we had more trees down.”
Byron estimated that it would take two more weeks for his crew of 22 men to finish the clean-up process.
“I’ve had all my crew out,” said Byron. “We’ve just been having at it everyday.”
Stan Dodier, Dining Facilities Manager, said that the basements of Stillings and the New England Center were flooded and they had to pump them out.
Some students on campus used their time in the dark to bond.
Kathlyn Garvey, a sophomore, said there was a nerf gun fight in Devine.
“We had a pow wow in the dorm,” said Garvey.
Senior, Bryan Noonan, had a different stance. He said that he expected there would be a quicker response in clean up since last year’s storm.
“It sucks that it happened twice in two years,” said Noonan.
But for many students who live off campus the power outage is a continued inconvenience. Senior Katie Hogan lives on Edgewood Drive and has been informed that she will not get power back until next weekend. Hogan has been alternating staying with a friend who lives on campus and staying with her parents.
Because Hogan and her roommate were away when the storm hit, she returned to find $200 worth of food gone bad in her refrigerator. Her landlord texted her to tell her not to go to the house because it was unsafe; there were multiple trees down around her house.
“I should have gone to school in Florida,” she said.
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