Emergency Preparedness

New Hampton's Hazard Mitigation Plan (updated March 2024)

Stay Safe During Winter Weather

Generator Safety
Generators can be helpful when the power goes out. It is important to know how use them safely to prevent carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning and other hazards.

Generators and fuel should always be used outdoors and at least 20 feet away from windows, doors and attached garages.
Install working carbon monoxide detectors on every level of your home. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that can kill you, your family and pets.
Keep the generator dry and protected from rain or flooding. Touching a wet generator or devices connected to one can cause electrical shock.
Always connect the generator to appliances with heavy-duty extension cords.
Let the generator cool before refueling. Fuel spilled on hot engine parts can ignite.
Follow manufacturer’s instructions carefully.

Learn the signs, and basic treatment of, Frostbite & Hypothermia
Frostbite causes loss of feeling and color around the face, fingers and toes.

Signs: Numbness, white or grayish-yellow skin, firm or waxy skin.
Actions: Go to a warm room. Soak in warm water. Use body heat to warm. Do not massage or use a heating pad.

Hypothermia is an unusually low body temperature. A temperature below 95 degrees is an emergency.

Signs: Shivering, exhaustion, confusion, fumbling hands, memory loss, slurred speech or drowsiness.
Actions: Get to a warm location. Warm the center of the body first—chest, neck, head and groin. Keep dry and wrapped up in warm blankets, including the head and neck.

Winter Weather Terms

Warnings, Watches & Advisories

Know Your Risk for Winter Storms
Winter storms create a higher risk of car accidents, hypothermia, frostbite, carbon monoxide poisoning, and heart attacks from overexertion. Winter storms including blizzards can bring extreme cold, freezing rain, snow, ice and high winds. A winter storm can:

Last just a few hours or several days.
Result in a loss of power, communications and heat.
Put the elderly, children and sick at greater risk.

Pay attention to weather reports and warnings of freezing weather and winter storms. Listen for emergency information and alerts. Sign up for NH Alerts warning system

Winter Storm Warning
Issued when hazardous winter weather in the form of heavy snow, heavy freezing rain, or heavy sleet is imminent or occurring. Winter Storm Warnings are usually issued 12 to 24 hours before the event is expected to begin. If you are under a Winter Storm Warning, find shelter right away.

Winter Storm Watch
Alerts the public to the possibility of a blizzard, heavy snow, heavy freezing rain, or heavy sleet. Winter Storm Watches are usually issued 12 to 48 hours before the beginning of a Winter Storm.

Winter Weather Advisory
Issued for accumulations of snow, freezing rain, freezing drizzle, and sleet which will cause significant inconveniences and, if caution is not exercised, could lead to life-threatening situations.

Roof Safety During Winter

The following information sheets were provided by Primex - NH Pubic Risk Management Exchange.

Communication from Eversource

Potential for Outages in the New England grid

The following communication was received from Eversource, which the Board of Selectmen felt was appropriate to share with the entire community as the decision by ISO-NE to implement emergency actions, up-to and including rotating power outages, will affect all residents regardless of who your supplier is.

Good Afternoon Municipal Official,
We’re writing to brief you on a situation that we’ve been monitoring and analyzing, and that recently made headlines when ISO-New England, operator of the region’s power grid, announced that fuel supply issues could affect its ability to meet demand for electricity this winter.

ISO-New England’s warning is that, if extended periods of extreme cold weather occur this winter during a time when fuel supplies are constrained, the necessary balance of supply and demand in the electrical grid could be upset. This could require emergency actions – up to and including controlled, rotating power outages. ISO-New England has authority to require electric utilities to accommodate these outages to safeguard the stability of the power grid.

All municipalities will need to be prepared for the potential loss of power to critical municipal facilities. It is our mission to provide you with information that will assist in your readiness planning.

We know that, if this unusual situation were to occur, our customers and communities will need to be prepared as best as possible. We are sharing information with our municipalities about our planning if we are instructed to take the unprecedented step of effecting controlled power outages. We want you to understand what these actions would mean for your community and how, working together, we might be able to conserve enough energy to avoid rolling outages.

Our Community Relations team will review this issue with you and provide more information on Eversource’s plans and procedures. The key high-level points are as follows:

Steps in the ISO New England Energy Emergency Process

If an energy shortage occurs, ISO-New England will typically start with public appeals for electric conservation. We will share those requests with communities and other stakeholders and would ask you to amplify those appeals. We would also ask that you think about how you would conserve energy in your own municipal buildings and facilities, if called upon.
The next step would be implementation of voltage reductions by utilities. This step will not be noticed by most customers, except for some commercial and industrial customers.
If those steps are not sufficient to balance supply and demand, ISO-New England may call for controlled outages. In an emergency, ISO-New England may go straight to this step as necessary to stabilize the electric grid.
Eversource may not receive advance notice of a controlled-outage order, and our ability to notify communities and customers in advance may be limited. We are committed to communication and collaboration and will share information as promptly as possible with you, customers, and other stakeholders.
Eversource will seek to rotate outages among “blocks” or groups of customers on different circuits so that the burden is spread as equally as possible. The number of customers experiencing an outage at any given time -- and the length of their outage -- will depend on the situation.

What Communities Need to Know and Do

Review and be prepared to activate your business continuity plans.
Be prepared to share ISO-New England conservation requests with residents, and to take all possible steps to reduce your own energy use.
Controlled outages may continue for days or longer at ISO-New England’s direction, depending on the scope of the emergency. This is unlike a storm situation, where the system sustains physical damage and Eversource makes repairs to restore power.

Collaboration and Communication Will Be Critical

Any emergency would likely impact the entire New England region. We will partner with ISO-New England and state officials on communications and resource coordination.
In addition to ISO-New England’s communications, Eversource’s primary public communications channels will be news outlets, social media and eversource.com.
If an energy emergency requires rotating outages over several days, our mission will be to provide as much information as possible to customers and other stakeholders.

We recognize that controlled outages would have a significant impact on your community and our customers, and we share your concerns. Eversource is committed to communicating our contingency plans with you so we can work together if an emergency occurs.

Thank you,
Community Relations and Economic Development
New Hampshire - Northern Region

All residents should take steps now to prepare for the possibility of prolonged outages. Things to be thinking about include:

If you have a generator, has it been serviced recently?
Ensure you have adequate fuel on hand for your generator or wood stove. Do not use a propane heater inside the home unless it is one specifically designed for indoor use; carbon monoxide can build up and create a deadly hazard.
Never run a generator in the home or garage, even if the windows and doors are open… Position the generator at least 20 feet away from the home with the exhaust pointed away windows and doors..
Ensure you have batteries on hand for flashlights and a radio. Don't plan on using candles; flashlights are safer. And a battery-powered radio will keep you connected to emergency notifications when the television isn’t an option.
If you don’t have a car charger for your phone it’s a good idea to get one. You'll need a charged phone so you can make calls and stay connected with news and information. With a car charger, you'll be able to keep your phone charged even if the power stays off for an extended period of time.
Grab a case or 2 of water, especially if you don’t have a backup generator to run the pump in your well.
Think about how you will heat food if you have an electric cooktop or oven. If you are going to use your grill ensure it is a safe distance away from the home.

COVID - 19

Guidance on When to Call 911

IMPORTANT: In an effort to assist residents and visitors with the decision to call 911 and/or to go to the emergency department, the State of New Hampshire EMS has created a Public Service Announcement (PSA). The PSA linked below is an in depth two-minute video available on YouTube.

2-minute PSA Video Link

Refer to the following reputable websites for up-to-date information:

NH Dept of Health & Human Services - DHHS will continue to issue COVID-19 updates each day to provide media and the public with current information about the State’s efforts. Click here to get day by day updates.

NH Division of Public Health Services, Bureau of Infectious Disease Control
https://www.nh.gov/covid19/

(CDC) US Center for Disease Control
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

World Health Organization
https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1