BOSTON (WHDH) - Break out your umbrellas, rain boats and coats — a messy day of rain and wind is in store for Eastern Massachusetts.
Strong winds were expected in the afternoon and evening Wednesday as temperatures surge into the lower 60s, with gusts from 40 to 60 miles per hour, creating the chance of tree damage and power outages.
National Grid, which serves hundreds of communities throughout the state, said it is ready to respond to service disruptions Wednesday night and Thursday.
“Right now, we have more than 700 crews and over 1,600 field personnel who are ready to respond to outages. We’ve also gotten about 300 external crews coming from as far as Canada. So, we’ve got people in place and we’re ready to go,” said Chris Milligan, of National Grid.
Eversource, the state’s other major utility company, said it is also putting extra manpower to work as the bad weather moves in. Line crews generally cannot work once winds reach 30 miles per hour.
If you see a downed line, even if your power is out, stay away and call your utility company, local police, or the fire department.
“Better safe than sorry and treat every downed power line as if it’s live,” Milligan said.
In Boston, there was lots of rain Wednesday afternoon and city officials hadn’t seen any issues with wind or street flooding. Rain was forecast to taper off just after midnight.
“Any time there’s a major storm like this, we’re working closely with Boston Water and Sewer and making sure that the drainage system is up and running,” said Boston Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge.
At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s snow-fighting team updated residents on storm preparations for the winter months ahead.
“We have 175 pieces of in-house equipment on hand and ready to go, with the ability to put more than 800 pieces in the field with the help of our contractors,” Franklin-Hodge said.
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