As New Hampshire continues the clean up effort following Thursday's devastating ice storm, which has left many families without electricity through the weekend, I would like to begin by offering great thanks to all those who are working diligently to restore power to residents. With hundreds of thousands of houses losing power over the course of the storm, repair crews have been working tirelessly around the clock in an effort to restore power to every home. While many homes still do not have power, I ask that those people remain patient and continue to stay warm and stay safe.
Through the course of the storm and its aftermath, we have once again witnessed the strength of our community. Organizations and private citizens have come together and opened their doors to families and friends affected by the outages. A hot shower and a warm place to spend an afternoon can greatly brighten the spirits of a family in need. Our community has responded with great caring and hard work, to assist those without heat, and to help in every possible way those affected by the widespread outages. If you know people who still continue to suffer loss of power, especially those who may be elderly or at risk, please offer them help and check on them and their home from time to time to ensure their safety.
As local work crews continue to work to button up those areas still affected by power outages, we are asking that those still without power seek out warmth until their electricity is indeed restored. Crews have been working around the clock, and with any luck will have the last of those areas up and running soon. If you currently have power, please do all that you can for those you know that are without. For those who have not had heat or hot water for days, a simple gesture of offering to host dinner, or allowing a family hot showers, can fuel the mind, body and soul, and help to ease ones mind. Once again, the overwhelming spirit of our community has risen up in the face of natural disaster, and you should be proud of the generosity shared between yourselves and your neighbors.
