|
An
ice storm hit the densely populated southern and central New
Hampshire on December 11-12, 2008. Thick layers of ice caused
collapsing power lines, exploding transformers, downed trees, and
property damage. An unprecedented number of households (about
440,000) were without electricity and heat, and remained so for up
to 12 days just before Christmas. Some locations were isolated for
hours or days due to road damage and electrical failure.
Utility companies cited this event as
the most severe storm damage in NH history. Public Service of New
Hampshire, the Granite State's largest electric utility, reported
the storm damage as “three times as bad as anything PSNH has ever
faced in 82 years of service” (Special
Report: How Was this Storm Different?)
The five Red Cross chapters located in
the affected area responded quickly and worked together in a major
sheltering and mass care response. They opened Red Cross shelters;
cooperated with partners in providing supplies for community
shelters; rallied disaster volunteers and trained new volunteers to
staff the shelters; fielded hotline calls; arranged for three daily
meals, drinks and snacks for shelter residents; and mobilized health
and mental care professionals to be available at the shelters. Of
the 418 Red Cross personnel on this disaster, 97 percent were
volunteers.
On Friday, December 12, the Red Cross
chapters started getting calls for emergency sheltering from people
without power and heat. In total for this disaster, the chapters
responded to more than 500 hotline calls. By the end of this first
day, there were 10 shelters and 4 warming centers
that were managed by the Red Cross or managed by community
partners with Red Cross assistance.
The shelters were staffed by Red Cross
disaster volunteers, some of whom had no power at their own homes.
Shelter residents were provided three meals a day. Volunteers were
on hand 24-hours a day to comfort and tend to health care needs of
shelter residents.
Because of the severity and magnitude
of the disaster, the American Red Cross designated it a Disaster
Relief Operation, DRO #366-09. The Granite Chapter was the central
site for job activities and hosted the job director and other
personnel.
Bitterly cold temperatures persisted.
At the peak of the disaster on Saturday night, over 1300 people
stayed in Red Cross or community shelters. The Red Cross issued a
messages urging care with generators, thawing pipes, alternative
home heating sources, and downed trees and wires.
By Tuesday, the NH Red Cross put a call
out for volunteers because of the fatigue felt by shelter workers
who had been staffing shelters, serving meals and snacks, and
comforting anxious shelter residents straight through the last five
days.
By Wednesday, a week into the disaster,
82,500 households were still out of power, equal to the total number
of outages in the 1998 ice storm. 300 people spent the night at one
of nine Red Cross shelters that were still open.
Shelters began to close as more
communities had power restored and the public’s needs were met.
However, tens of thousands of households still had no power and
seven Red Cross shelters provided a warm place to sleep for hundreds
of people.
On Tuesday, December 23, the last three
Red Cross shelters closed after the emergency needs of shelter
residents had been met.
Throughout the disaster, there was
significant media interest in the power outages and the Red Cross
was well covered in all media. The media throughout New Hampshire
were kept informed through press releases, sometimes four a day as
information became available and shelter schedules changed. This
chapter kept updates on the website.
News releases were also sent regularly
to the Governor’s Press Secretary. Red Cross representatives met
daily with Governor Lynch and other State officials. The Governor
visited shelters in Manchester and Nashua. The NH State Rep for
Durham visited the shelter at Oyster River High School, and the
Commissioner for Health and Human Services visited two other
shelters in the Great Bay service area.
The NH State Senate prepared a
resolution honoring the work of the Red Cross in New Hampshire. The
resolution was read on the floor of the Senate Chambers on January
7, 2009. (See related story.)
|
