The Storm Hits

Friday, December 12th, 2008
2:00 AM

Bill Raleigh was awoken from a light sleep by the sound of his ringing cell phone.  "My public works director called me to report that the power was down in a few different sections of town and that his road crews were reporting that conditions were getting really bad.  I told him to keep me updated and to let me know his crews were doing keeping up with the roads."  It was becoming clear that the storm would indeed be as serious as some had predicted, and the towns emergency protocols should begin to kick into action.  "I called Sandy Higgins, the district superintendent, to confer with her about closing the schools.  After telling her of my conversation with public works we both agreed to close the schools.  I still had power, but just looking out the window you could see how bad it was getting."  Raleigh continued to work the phones to get in touch with key personel.  He then, decided to establish Greenham's Emergency Operations Center at the town's offices at 5:00 Friday morning to coordinate the town's response.

Meanwhile, PSNH utility crewman Jim Baskind waited in the staging area, drinking coffee and listening to the reports of downed power lines and power outages stream in.  There was already serious icing over most of Southern New Hampshire's power lines and the storm was far from over.  Forecasters had predicted a storm lasting into midday with temperatures remaining below freezing.  "Everyone knew we were in for a long few days of work.  At my staging area we lost power a little after midnight on Friday and we were running on generators.  All we could really do at that point was wait for the rain to stop so we could start repairing the lines.  Even guys who weren't on call were being asked to come in Friday morning because we could all tell it was real bad outside."

7:00 AM

Officer Dennis Daugherty was at the tail end of a double shift and he was ready to go home.  Throughout the night the weather had worsened and the roads were becoming nearly impassable.  He had seen tree limbs snap off and take down power lines, massive branches blocking roads, and even a power box on a power line explode, shooting sparks into the night sky.  "By the time my shift was coming to an end I had responded to five or six accidents myself and all night reports were coming over the radio from all over town.  Most of them were pretty minor but there were a couple that sent people to the hospital.  All the traffic lights were out by about 3:30 AM so most of the officers on duty tried to have a presence at the major intersections, but fortunately by that point most people were off the roads."  He watched as ice accumulated on his patrol car as public works crews struggled keep the roads clear.

9:20 AM
"When the Governor declared a state of emergency all of Greenham was without power.  The EOC was running on generators and we were having trouble with our landlines.  We were having a hard time communicating with state officials about our conditions," said Bill Raleigh.

"I got a call from Bill Raleigh around 9:00 AM on friday morning telling me to expect citizens to start coming into the shelter," explained Red Cross shelter worker Ann Richards.  "Once the power went out the road crews started coming in to get warm and take their breaks."

"All we could do for most of Friday was sit and wait for the rain to end so we could start our repairs.  There's really not a whole lot you can do when the weather event is still occurring," explained Jim Baskind.

Dennis Daugherty.  "On Friday morning I went home to check on my family.  We had lost power by the time I got home so I took everyone over to my brothers house because he has a generator.  I slept for awhile then went back into the station because most of the department was needed."

5:00 PM
The rain finally tapered off as the night grew darker.  The temperature, which had been below freezing all day, dipped into the teens and single digits.  Crews continued to work to keep main roads open and passable but their job was made extremely difficult due to down power lines and tree branches.  Raleigh had worked through the day to coordinate Greenham's emergency services and had been in constant contact with state officials.  He toured the town periodically throughout the day to monitor the conditions.  Some roads were impassable, others looked like an obstacle course.

At the shelter Ann Richards was helping the 15 residents who decided to stay for the night get comfortable.  Crews continued to stream in and out in search of warmth, hot coffee, and brief naps.  She had been in contact with the state Red Cross who informed her that FEMA would be sending supplies to the area in the next day or two.  Her generators, which had been working away all day, had enough fuel for about two more days without power.