3,000 with limited or no phone service; weeks before power restored for some

Here's the lastest from Associated Press reporters on Vermont utility companies and what they have to say.

 

Green Mountain Power has decided against flooding the state's capital to save a dam amid heavy rain from Tropical Storm Irene.

GMP Spokeswoman Dorothy Schnure says water levels have stabilized Monday morning but engineers are continuing to monitor the situation. Releasing the water would have reduced pressure on the Marshfield Dam but raised levels of the already swollen Winooski River.

About 350 people downstream from the dam were evacuated as a precaution.

The storm left millions without power across much of the Eastern Seaboard, left more than 20 dead and forced airlines to cancel about 9,000 flights.

 

The flood also left hundreds without phones.  

More than 700 Vermont telephone customers are unable to communicate because of damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Irene.

And at least 3,000 additional customers of FairPoint Communication have limited service Monday.

FairPoint spokeswoman Sabina Haskell says the company's Pittsfield central office is out of commission entirely. She says it had been operating on battery power, but when crews went to fuel the generators the road to the office was inaccessible.

An additional 1,300 customers in the Pittsfield-Rochester area have limited service.

About 1,400 lines are affected in Jacksonville and another 550 in Readsboro. Customers there are unable to call 911, but they should be able to call local emergency services.

Haskell says a fiber optic cable has been broken near Rochester.

Crews are working to repair the damage.
 

CVPS now says it could be weeks before all customers in the state have their power back.

As of 7 a.m. Monday, 37,500 customers of the Central Vermont Public Service Corp. remained without power.

But the damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Irene to dozens of utility poles and many roads have washed away, leaving utility crews unable to reach affected customers.

CVPS Vice President Joe Kraus calls the situation "unchartered territory."

He says a half a dozen substations were submerged in flood waters.

CVPS has brought in crews from as far as Illinois, but they are stymied because they can't reach the damage.

In some cases utility crews had to spend the night with customers are they were trapped by flooding.