NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. (WHDH) - Rosemary Smedile can walk through her North Andover home, but she still can’t live here.
As leaders announce that 98 percent of people impacted by the Merrimack Valley gas explosions now have heat, hot water, and gas appliances back on, she’s among the two percent still without.
“They saved the outside of the house but the inside is a total loss,” Smedile said. “We’ll be out for a year.”
Her house caught fire Sept. 13.
“We started off staying with a good friend. Then, a hotel. We had to wait, though, because those were crowded,” Smedile said. “Now, we have a rental.”
For the last three months, Columbia Gas has worked to restore natural gas to the 7,500 homes and businesses devastated by the explosions and fires.
On Wednesday, four days before the deadline to have everyone up and running, leaders announced they’ve made substantial progress of getting people comfortable in their homes.
“By this weekend we expect to find the travel trailers remaining at South Common to be hauled away,” Gov. Charlie Baker said.
Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera thanked his community for staying calm as crews dug through their lawns and delivered equipment at all hours of the day.
“The patience these folks have had I can’t even talking about. So thank you for not rioting even though you had every reason to do so,” Rivera said.
Still, leaders admit that while the gas may be on for most, there’s more to be done.
“This is not mission accomplished. There’s still significant work ahead,” Chief Recovery Officer Joe Albanese said.
Less than 200 customers are still without gas. Most are doing their own repair work.
Smedile, who is also a town selectman, says she’s relived so many are regaining normalcy, even if she isn’t there quite yet.
“I’m so happy for them, especially those who have children We need to bring back normalcy to our lives,” she said.
Since Sept. 13, construction teams have replaced nearly 44 miles of gas main lines throughout the three communities, installed over 5,000 service lines and installed 18,500 new appliances.
The incident damaged 131 structures in Lawrence, Andover, and North Andover, including at least five homes that were destroyed.
One person was killed and 21 others, including two firefighters, were hospitalized with injuries sustained in the disaster.
Columbia Gas says it will maintain a presence in all three communities to answer questions moving forward.
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