BURRILLVILLE/NORTH SMITHFIELD – Heavy winds ripped through the area Monday afternoon into the evening, knocking down trees and wires across northern Rhode Island and leaving many in the dark.
As of 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 30, National Grid had large-scale outages reported in both Burrillville and North Smithfield, with hundreds of customers affected. Some of those homes were still without power as of Tuesday afternoon.
The largest outage, affecting Oakland and Mapleville, put 1,178 customers in the dark around 3:30 p.m. Monday, according to the company’s outage map. Oakland Mapleville Fire Chief Joseph Bertholic noted that his team responded to a transformer fire and a fire alarm due to power outages.
Another several hundred homes were out along the border of the two towns in the area of Tarkiln Road, Colwell Road and Log Road.
In North Smithfield, another 368 customers were out along the area of Victory Highway near Branch Village.
Most customers serviced by the Pascoag Utility District appeared to still have power early Monday evening, although many in the area reported lights flickering. PUD officials reminded customers to charge their devices and keep flashlights on hand, and to report any downed lines or outages at (401) 568-6222.
The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for northwest Rhode Island, remained in affect through 1 a.m. Tuesday. Southeast winds of 15 to 25 miles per hour are expected to blow through the night, with gusts of up to 50 miles per hour.
Did you take pictures of the storm damage? Share them by sending your photos to [email protected].