Reports: 25,000 Without Power In New Hampshire

CONCORD, NH — A small band of thunderstorms that hit across New Hampshire on Wednesday caused thousands to lose power as lightning struck homes and trees downed power lines.

Heavy rain and hail, including wind gusts as high as 60 mph, began around 4 p.m. as the storms shifted from one side of the state to the other. Alerts were issued in the early afternoon for warnings and watches as well.

As of 6:30 p.m., Eversource, the state’s largest utility, had the most number of customers out: more than 16,000, including nearly 2,000 customers out in Nashua and large outages in Rindge, Rochester, Jaffrey, and Gilford. Smaller outages were reported in Amherst, Londonderry, Portsmouth, and Windham.

A house fire was also reported in Nashua.

About 3,000 Liberty Utility customers are also without power including nearly 2,600 in Salem and a handful in Windham.

Salem police reported on Instagram that there were several trees and wires down, all over town, with the worst part of the storm hitting North Salem.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS are expected across NH this afternoon into the evening. High winds and lightning may cause power outages. Report outages and wires down at 1-855-349-9455 or https://t.co/LE3TMIgwPT. Our crews are standing by and ready to respond. Stay Safe. pic.twitter.com/YTqwKL0fki
— Liberty - NH (@LibertyUtil_NH) June 30, 2021

Unitil reported about 2,000 customers without power with unknown restoration times. A handful of Concord customers were without power while 112 in Exeter and 52 in Hampton were without power.

Exeter firefighters reported on Twitter that a tree had fallen into a house on Harvard Street.

A resident on Blueberry Lane in Concord reported a home being struck by lightning.

Fires were also reported in Barnstead and Candia.

The New Hampshire Electric Coop reported more than 2,000 customers without power across the northern part of the state and the Lakes Region.

06-30-21 5:45PM POWER OUTAGE UPDATE: There are now more than 25,000 power outages in NH due to strong winds and heavy rain. If you are without power, report the outage to your utility provider. #ReadyNH #NHwx #BePrepared #BeSafe pic.twitter.com/p7YY41g6u2
— NH Homeland Security and Emergency Management (@NH_HSEM) June 30, 2021

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