2,600+ Customers Without Power in Needham

[UPDATED Monday, 10 p.m.]

Power was slowly being stored to Needham residents late Monday night, as the number of households without electricity dropped to 2,482 by 10 p.m.—about 20 percent of the local customer base.

[UPDATED Monday, 9 p.m.]

About 23 percent of NSTAR customers in Needham—about 2,814 households— were without power as of 9 p.m. Monday evening.

[UPDATED Monday, 6:40 p.m.]

With Hurricane Sandy still making its way up the coast toward New England, about 22 percent of NSTAR customers in Needham were reporting power outages at around 6:40 p.m. A total of 2,687 customers in town were without electricity, according to the company's online Outage Map.

Nearby towns with even higher percentages of outages at this time include: Dover with 1,348 customers out (61 percent); Weston with 2,474 customers out (57 percent); Wayland with 2,286 customers out (42 percent); and Westwood with 1,911 customers out (34 percent).

[UPDATED Monday, 5:35 p.m.]

About 21 percent of Needham customers are now without power as Hurricane Sandy's strong winds continue to take down wires, trees and branches around town. As of 5:35 p.m. NSTAR was reporting a total of 2,592 Needham households without electricity.

[UPDATED Monday, 5 p.m.]

At just before 5 p.m., NSTAR was reporting that 19 percent of Needham customers were without power—a total of 2,312 households, according to the company's online Outage Map.

Sherborn continues to have the highest percentage of power out, at 95 percent, or 1,642 customers.

[UPDATED Monday, 4:30 p.m.]

About 4 percent of NSTAR customers in Needham were without power as of 4 p.m. Monday, according to the company's online Outage Map.

Numbers have been fluctuating all morning and afternoon, hitting 65 before dropping again to 30, but the current number—545 Needham customers—is the largest yet reported for the town during Hurricane Sandy.

So far, Sherborn is facing the largest percentage of customers without power in the local NSTAR region, according to the map, with 60 percent or 1,039 customers without power at 4:30 p.m.

Wayland, Weston, Dover, Framingham, Lexington and Woburn all had up to 20 percent power loss, while Newton, Natick, Dedham, Waltham and Watertown all had 1-10 percent power loss by 4:30 p.m. according to the NSTAR map.

Needham residents are encouraged to report all power outages by calling 800-592-2000 or via the online Report an Outage form, and to keep reporting outages if they remain for more than 12 hours.

If residents see sparks or a downed wire, they should call in the issue immediately to local police (781-455-7570) or fire (781-444-0142) or dial 9-1-1. Officials remind residents that they should stay away from all downed wires, as they should be considered live and dangerous.

Residents who are concerned about being without power for an extended period of time should note that the town may open a respite center at the Needham Free Public Library or at Town Hall if outages are widespread and long-lasting in town. 

Needham Patch will have updates on this issue as information becomes available.