UPDATE: Thousands Remain Powerless in Marlborough, Shelter Established [POLL]
The mayor's office opened a shelter the Whitcomb Middle School Sunday evening for those residents still without power as a result of the Halloween weekend nor'easter.
UPDATE, 12:12 p.m.: Mayor Nancy Stevens office said late Monday morning that the trash pick-ups for the city will remain on the normal schedule.
Also, her office is in touch with National Grid and said that crews continue to work toward getting everyone's power back in Marlborough. (See what neighborhoods are coming back online as they happen. Check out the comments on our Facebook page.)
"National Grid is continuing to work on remaining outages," said the mayor. "To report an outage, please call 1-800 465-1212. You will need your National Grid account number and/or the phone number registered to your account."
Stevens and her emergency management team had been in meetings thoughout Monday morning, continuing to assess and deal wih the ongoing situation.
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As parts of Marlborough begin a return to normalcy, large sections are still without power going on 36 hours after the Halloween weekend nor'easter.
As such, the promise made by National Grid to have customers up and running as soon as possible, has lost much of its impact when families have had to struggle through heatless nights in freezing temperatures.
When Marlborough Patch last spoke with National Grid, a spokesperson said they were not ready to give estimates to people.
"As soon as we have estimated times of restoration we will let our customers know," said Debby Drew, a spokesperson with the company. "We know that communication is key to our customers and we will keep them informed."
All Marlborough schools have canceled classes through Monday, and Mayor Nancy Stevens office has announced that the city's trick-or-treating festivities have been postponed until Thursday.
"The Emergency management team met this morning and due to public safety concerns has decided to postpone trick-or-treating until Thursday, Nov. 3," said a statement. "Areas of the City remain without power, and the presence of downed wires and tree limbs pose a danger to children and their families. Thank you for your cooperation."
A shelter was established Sunday evening at the Whitcomb Middle School.
"Due to the snowstorm, The Whitcomb School is open as an emergency shelter," said a representative of the mayor's office. "There is limited food, heat and bathrooms. Please bring your own bedding material if you plan to sleep in the shelter."
There are, however, no shower available at the shelter.
Those businesses with power on the Route 20 corridor were bustling with activity Monday morning. Starbucks did not have a seat to spare as residents charged electronic devices and spent some time on the internet. McDonalds next door had a line around the building waiting to use the drive-through window.
Governor Deval Patrick spoke with reporters Monday morning, saying that he has declared a State of Emergency and will be asking President Obama to declare a Federal emergency situation later today.
He said there have been three deaths that have come about as a result of the storm and 519,000 residents are still without power.
The Governor emphasized safety as a top priority.
"Please, please do not undertake clearing tree limbs and power lines by yourself," said Patrick. "Contact your power company."
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Samantha
11:49 am on Monday, October 31, 2011
This may sound like a really dumb question, but are there showers at the shelter? Our apartment complex has NO hot water and 36 hours on, things are beginning get a little dicey when it comes to bathing...
Josh Gray
12:04 pm on Monday, October 31, 2011
I've passed the question along to the mayor's office. You're right, it would be good to know.
Josh Gray
12:08 pm on Monday, October 31, 2011
There are no showers. Sorry!
Samantha
12:09 pm on Monday, October 31, 2011
Bummer, thanks for checking...
Kim
12:50 pm on Monday, October 31, 2011
Just went to the website for National Grid and my anticipated restoration is Thursday.
Stefan Hudzikiewicz
1:10 pm on Monday, October 31, 2011
Looks like all the Marlborough "balloons" on National Grid say Thursday, as Kim mentioned. Any truth to those estimates? It will be hard to postpone Trick-or-Treating to Thursday night if we are still without power...
Ellen T
1:36 pm on Monday, October 31, 2011
I also called National Grid and they indicated Thursday - seems very frustrating that city officials can not get a good estimate from National Grid, however, they are telling Marlborough residents Thursday? Why three days from now?
Mitch
2:20 pm on Monday, October 31, 2011
National Grid needs to be held accountable. I'm sure they could throw more money at the problem and restore service faster, but are more concerned about watching their bottom line. Why is Hudson in better shape than Marlborough? Why is it that on Saturday night National Grid was giving us approximately 1 hour ETR and now they are currently still "evaluating" the situation? The mayor needs to beat up these jerks. The incoming mayor better make this a priority as well. For starters, let's talk about crediting customers for their losses!
Samantha
2:23 pm on Monday, October 31, 2011
Our power just came back on Farm Road (well, according to my boyfriend, who has off work today) and they were originally estimating Thursday...so maybe there is hope for all!
Marie
4:21 pm on Monday, October 31, 2011
That's encouraging. I'm in VA trying to get some info to my Mum who is in Berlin, and just trying to figure out what is happening up there. Few online resources. I'm surprised.
Hopefully Berlin will be sooner than later.
Steven Levy
2:33 pm on Monday, October 31, 2011
I believe Thursday is just their default answer for statewide service restoration but many individual areas are coming back online as quickly as they can get to you. An update earlier said N'Grid expects to have half their 330,000 customers without power back up by sometime late tonight/early morning.
Wendy
4:32 pm on Monday, October 31, 2011
We should all refuse to pay our bills until the infrastructure is fixed so these outages stop happening. This will cost us over $1000 between spoiled food, restaurant costs, and hotel. So annoying!!!
Tom C
8:49 pm on Monday, October 31, 2011
My wife wanted to stay in a hotel. She missed her blow dryer, curling iron and heat of course. Well we sponged bathed, heated (gas) a pot of water on the stove and washed her hair in the kitchen sink, then, threw an extra comforter on the bed. A couple of hundred dollars worth of camping gear kept us all eating. Just know what you want in the fridge, open the door just long enough to grab what you need and shut it quickly and food will keep for quite a few days. In cold weather keep perishable food in a cooler outdoors. You don't even need ice. Good luck next time, because unless you cut all the trees down within 100 ft. of a power line, it will happen again.
Rick Horlick
4:35 pm on Monday, October 31, 2011
Anyone know if the traffic lights are working on Lincoln St, betwee Broad St and Pleasant St?
Abby
8:21 pm on Monday, October 31, 2011
When you know what night Marlborough's Halloween has been postponed to please make it prominent on the Patch website and on Facebook. I've been told it's Thursday, November 3rd, but I would like confirmation. Thank you.
Josh Gray
8:24 pm on Monday, October 31, 2011
We posted several times this afternoon. That information is correct: http://marlborough.patch.com/articles/no-school-tuesday-for-mps-elections-on-and-halloween-postponed
Abby
8:27 pm on Monday, October 31, 2011
Got it thanks...
Tom C
8:31 pm on Monday, October 31, 2011
I am not an advocate for the Electric Co.'s, that's for sure, but, this storm was far worse the Hurricane Irene. It is a very dangerous work and takes many steps to restore part of a downed grid.
When I was a kid we used to play cards and game to pass the time. Now we depend so much on electricity to power our lives that time seems to stand still when we have no homemade entertainment. You would thinh the summers hurricane would have taught us all a lesson.