More than 150 WMECO crews have worked to restore power in the Greater Springfield area.
6-3-2011 - West Springfield - Storm aftermath - Staff Photo By John Suchocki - Local resident walks down Sprague St. through the damage.SPRINGFIELD – Most of the approximately 3,500 Western Massachusetts Electric Co. customers who remain without power in the East Forest Park and Sixteen Acres neighborhoods should see it restored sometime Friday night, a spokeswoman said.
National Grid, meanwhile, hopes to be able to restore power by midnight to the approximately 4,500 East Longmeadow customers who have been in the dark since the tornado and intense thunderstorms ripped through region Wednesday afternoon.
“Our crews are diligently working on the transmission system and they are looking at midnight,” said Debbie Drew, spokeswoman for National Grid.
All told, some 9,000 National Grid customers remain without power in Hampden and Worcester counties, Drew said.
National Grid’s website reported that other Hampden County communities without power early Friday afternoon included: Brimfield, 216; Hampden, 79; Holland, 1,450; Monson, 116; Wilbraham, 1,115. The website states that personnel are still assessing conditions in those communities and no estimates are available as to when power might be restored.
Sandra Ahearn, director of communications for the Western Massachusetts Electric Co., said that a smaller portion of the East Forest Park and Sixteen Acres customers may not get their electricity back until Saturday morning.
Ahearn said more than 150 crews have worked to restore power to neighborhoods in Springfield, West Springfield, Ludlow and Agawam. By Thursday night nearly all customers were back in service in West Springfield, Ludlow and Agawam, she said.
As of 10 a.m. Friday, more than 11,000 customers in Springfield had power restored, Ahearn said.