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Mayor Blasts National Grid For 'Unacceptable' Response To Outages

HAVERHILL (CBS) - Haverhill Mayor Jim Fiorentini is blasting National Grid for its response to widespread power outages in his city.

"It is unacceptable for my people to go two nights in a row without heat," Fiorentini told WBZ-TV. "I want National Grid to do more."

In Haverhill, about 18,000 homes and businesses were still without power on Friday.

"Just spoke with National Grid. Told them they need to bring in more crews and do whatever is necessary to restore power. Still over half (58%) of Haverhill is without power," Fiorentini said in a Facebook post. "They tell me that some will have power restored today/tonight but some will not. It is completely unacceptable that our citizens have to bear another night without heat or power."

"They have around 17 crews in Haverhill," the mayor wrote. "Bring in more!"

National Grid is using helicopters to assess damage across the Merrimack Valley after the recent nor'easter.

The latest storm knocked out power to much of the North Shore and communities north of Boston, and it could take days to restore electricity in several communities.

Downed trees, downed utility poles and downed lines were still scattered across Andover on Friday morning. Some lined the streets, while others covered them.

power outages
Utility crews working on power lines in Andover on Friday. (WBZ-TV)

Andover Police said National Grid is currently working on restoring power with large wires, while crews are working their way down to smaller wires.

More than 100,000 residents and businesses remained without power across Andover and the Merrimack Valley on Friday.

Andover-generator
A generator being used outside an Andover house. (WBZ-TV)

Across Andover, generators were humming with crews still grappling with downed trees and power lines, all playing a role in the massive power outages resulting from the storm.

The Merrimack Valley was home to nearly a third of all the power outages, forcing some to leave their homes in search of warmth.

andover-senior-center
Dozens of local residents went to Andover's senior center, which opened up as a warming station during the storm. (WBZ-TV)

Andover's senior center opened its doors overnight, served as a shelter and warming station during the storm.

About 100 people stopped by the center on Thursday, with about a dozen people staying the night at the center.

"The house (temperature) was down to the 40s and 50s so it was really cold," said Sharon Thompson, senior center coordinator, at the center.

"One lady actually came up to me and just started crying because she said she was so pleased that the center was here," said Thompson.

At the center on Friday, one man said the center "was just a nice, safe, warm place to be overnight."

Meanwhile, the towns of Chelmsford and Haverhill, which are among communities experiencing widespread power outages, say they anticipate full restoration of power to be completed by Sunday.

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