Safety Tips for Power Outages

As crews work to restore power to the hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts National Grid is advising residents to be extremely cautious.

“First and foremost, we urge customers to be safe," Marcy Reed, president of National Grid in Massachusetts, said in a statement. "Having snow of this magnitude this early is an unusual event for us even in Massachusetts, but National Grid has been poised and ready to meet this winter season head-on.  We are in full restoration mode."

Here are some safety tips from National Grid.

• Stay clear of downed wires and the areas surrounding them.
• There still are lines down and may not be readily visible, under leaves. So walk with extreme caution.
• Act as though every downed line is live.
• If you see a downed wire, call the downed wires and outages line at 800-465-1212 immediately.
• You can follow National Grid on Twitter (@nationalgridus) to obtain restoration updates.
• Keep children or pets way from places where lines may be down.
• Anyone using a generator should also keep it outside. The main breaker switch also must be shut off to avoid endangering the lives of crews working outside.

National Grid in New England has called for assistance by crews from as far away as Michigan, Ohio and North Carolina. The company hopes to have time estimates Monday, as they assess damage throughout today to get a clearer picture of what they're facing and what to expect. In the meantime, they are working with local and state emergency management agencies as well as Gov. Deval Patrick's office to speed the process up.

As of Sunday afternoon, nearly 4,000 homes in North Andover were without power.

The largest area in North Andover without power is around Massachusetts Avenue -- stretching from Waverly Road to Dale Street and from Lake Cochichewick all the way to Route 114. Another large area without power is around Lake Cochichewick along Great Pond Road into Boxford.

Check back with Patch for further updates.