Many NK Homes Still in the Dark

Many North Kingstown residents may be spending Halloween in the dark this year. According to figures from National Grid, almost 1,800 North Kingstown customers are still without power two days after Hurricane Sandy swept through the area.

At the height of the outages, more than 7,000 North Kingstowners were without power due to Sandy's damaging winds. As of noon on Wednesday, more than 50,000 Rhode Islanders are still without power.

The hardest hit communities were South Kingstown, Narragansett and Westerly. According to National Grid, more than 10,000 customers are without power in SK with another 7,750 in Narragansett. (Click here for photos of the effects of Sandy in both towns.)

In North Kingstown, firefighters and rescue crews were kept busy during the storm. According to Town Manager Michael Embury, emergency calls included:

• a structure fire at 79 Main Street, resulting from tidal water in the basement,
• kitchen fire at Crossroads off Devils Foot Road,
• 5 Wickford basements that needed to be pumped out
• 8 evacuations of homes on Pleasant Street in Wickford,
• 2 evacuations from people on Washington Street

A tidal surge also flooded the basement of the Town Annex Building in Wickford. A septic tank and two large dumpsters were also found floating during the surge. 

Two public works employees also had a close call during the storm. According to Embury, the two exited their truck moments before a tree fell on it, crushing the cab.