Power Outages Affect Thousands In Massachusetts On Christmas

BOSTON (CBS) -- Thousands of households in Massachusetts woke up without power on Christmas morning. A storm brought heavy rains and wind gusts that were forecast to reach 65 mph.

Earlier in the day more than 7,000 customers were without power, but that number dropped to under 2,000 as of 2:30 p.m., according to MEMA's outage map.

National Grid has 1,700 workers ready to respond across New England and canceled employee vacations in preparation for a "multi-day power restoration event." Eversource has also canceled holiday vacation for employees ahead of the storm and brought in crews from Pennsylvania and Canada to help.

"Just be prepared that you could be without power for a day, potentially two days with a storm like this," MEMA Director Samantha Phillips said.

There were numerous reports of crashes and trees down across the area. The Canton Fire Department tweeted a photo of a tree that fell and brought down wires on High Street.

Below are some tips from MEMA about planning for a power outage:

• Keep your cell phone, laptop and other electronics fully charged.
• If you have an emergency generator, make sure you have fuel, and know how to operate it safely outside away from home.
• Have flashlights, batteries, and any other supplies you may need if you lose power.
• If your medical equipment uses electricity, talk to health care providers, utility company & your personal support network for how to use them and backup options during a power outage.
• Secure or bring in outdoor objects (patio furniture, kids toys, trash cans, holiday decorations, etc.) that could be blown away.

In:
• Lisa Gresci