ADDISON COUNTY — Mount Abraham Unified School District schools are closed today because of road closures and downed power lines. Other county school districts remained open.
Heavy, wet snow over the last couple of days has caused widespread damage and knocked out power to tens of thousands of Vermonters.
Green Mountain Power announced on Twitter this morning that it had restored power to more than 86,000 customers statewide but had received 550 additional outage reports overnight. At 10 a.m. Thursday 102 towns were still experiencing power outages affecting more than 15,000 customers.
In the 5-Towns, 33 outage incidents affected a total of 472 customers in Bristol, Lincoln, Monkton and Starksboro (but none in New Haven).
Starksboro’s Robinson Elementary School will open as an emergency shelter today (Thursday) at 6 p.m., and again tomorrow (Friday), if necessary, according to a Front Porch Forum announcement by Robinson Principal Edorah Frazer. Shelter seekers should bring sleeping bags, food and any supplies they need. For more information, contact Starksboro’s emergency coordinator, Charlene Phelps, at 363-4276.
GMP is urging safety customers to call 211 for information about shelters in their area. They should also stay away from downed lines and trees and watch out for power and emergency crews who will be working with large vehicles in narrow, snow-loaded roadways.