Irene claims first Mass. fatality; 500k still without power
[fragment number=0]
Irene claimed its first fatality in Massachusetts this morning when a public works employee in Southbridge was electrocuted by a downed power line at his home, state officials said.
[fragment number=1]
Governor Deval Patrick said the man, identified by State Police as 52-year-old Richard Gorgone, was electrocuted when he touched a railing on his porch that had come into contact with the downed line.
State Police, based on a preliminary investigation, said the death was the result of a freak accident, in which a power line landed on Gorgone’s roof, then electrified the gutters, the downspout, and the railing.
Patrick urged people to continue to exercise caution in the aftermath of Irene, the hurricane that had become a tropical storm by the time its center crossed into Massachusetts, and treat downed wires as if they were live.
“We just ask people to be patient and to be cautious as well,’’ he said.
Nationally, Irene killed at least 26 others as it made its way up the East Coast this weekend.
Patrick, in a news conference at the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency bunker in Framingham, called it a “remarkable thing and a blessing’’ that no one else was hurt or killed in Massachusetts.
The Southbridge employee was one of an army of workers who woke up early this morning to clear downed trees, repair fallen utility lines, and guard against flooding, especially along the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers in Western Massachusetts.
Patrick said about 500,000 people were still out of power this afternoon, down from a peak of 700,000 at the height of the storm.
In Northampton, 30 homes were evacuated this morning in a low-lying neighborhood because of rising water in the Connecticut River and its tributaries. Flooding also remained a problem in Greenfield, MacLeod said.
Patrick started his day in Greenfield, getting briefed by local and state emergency officials gathered at Greenfield Community College. Then he examined a closed overpass on Interstate 91 and met with National Guard engineers providing support to the area. Next on his agenda was a trip to look at evacuated areas in both Greenfield and Deerfield.
Patrick then boarded a National Guard helicopter to fly over Franklin County towns such as Heath and Colrain, near the Vermont border, which still have numerous road closures.
The governor said he had seen “devastation in the hill town areas around Greenfield’’ with “extraordinary flooding.’’
State Police said that in the Southbridge incident, a large tree down the victim’s street had come down on high-tension power lines. The line attached to the pole in front of the victim’s house broke free and landed on his roof. The line charged the house’s gutter, downspouts, and the railing on the front porch. Gorgone died when he touched the railing. He was discovered by his girlfriend at about 5:30 a.m.
The governor spent Sunday night at his vacation home in the Berkshire Mountains, but an aide said he had not heard of any immediate damage to the property.
In Boston, about 1,100 homes remained without power, according to Dot Joyce, a spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino. Downed trees remained a significant problem in the city, especially in Hyde Park, West Roxbury, and Roslindale, and along the Jamaicaway.
City workers are “furiously cleaning up from a storm that wreacked a lot of havoc with our trees,’’ Joyce said.
Across the state, about 300 people slept at 28 emergency shelters, MacLeod said. This morning, 15 rapid reconnaissance teams planned to assess the damage in roughly 70 communities from Adams to Buzzards Bay. The teams include National Guard, state building inspectors, and representatives of state and federal emergency management agencies.
“These are very quick windshield surveys of the damage,’’ MacLeod said. “The intent of this process is to really focus state and federal resources.’’
In hard-hit Vermont, a Globe reporter was frustrated this morning by blocked roads as he tried to make his way to a waterlogged Rutland. Under faultless blue skies on a picturesque late summer day, numerous roads were blocked. Orange cones were common sights. It was difficult to travel 20 miles without being stopped.
Roads were covered with patches of drying mud. Bridges were covered with debris and mud and the streams below were swollen and muddy. Farm fields looked like swamps.
A firefighter in one small town, asked the best way to Rutland, said, “You got a helicopter?’’ Ludlow and Rutland were described by emergency officials as islands.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com