Two Days After Storm, Lights Out For 200,000 Around New England

The first time a snowstorm made his lights flicker, Kevin O’Connell went out and bought his own gasoline-powered generator. Then the lights went out all weekend and stayed out Monday.

“My neighbors are down to 37 degrees in their houses. I’m up to 72,” he said Monday. “I invited them to spend the night.”

Hundreds of thousands of New Englanders could use a neighbor like O’Connell.

A snowstorm buried much of the Northeast under as much as 22 inches of heavy, wet snow on Saturday night and Sunday morning, knocking out electrical service to some 600,000 homes and businesses.

At least four deaths were blamed on the storm. An earlier storm, the one that inspired O’Connell to buy his generator, hit Friday and piled more than a foot of snow on western Massachusetts.

By Monday afternoon, 200,000 customers still had no juice in New England and adjacent eastern New York state.

“I can’t believe that I’m living in the 20th century and sitting in my home in the dark without heat,” said James Flocco of Stratham, N.H.

The cold drove people to shelters and filled those hotels that still had electricity. Others flocked to unaffected restaurants, and lines in some towns snaked out doors and into parking lots.

Shute’s Corner Country Store in Derry, N.H., remained open even without electricity. Battery-powered calculators replaced cash registers, and a wood-burning stove provided heat.

“There’s nothing else to do, so why not stay open?” said owner Karen Boulay.

Hot instant coffee lured customers in throughout the morning.

“I think they’re coming in mostly for the conversation,” she said. “The kids are in good moods because there’s no school, and the parents are getting a little frustrated.”