PSNH Twitters About Power Outgage for..hmm..Those Without Power?

Ahh, the internet.  It feels good to be back on line.  I just wrapped up a 102+ hour power outage at home and let me tell you I missed things like cable TV, the internet, music, and the digital clock in my son’s room (that he uses to known it’s not 6AM and he should go back to bed).  We had a generator so I didn’t miss heat, running water, lights (too much), or taking showers, otherwise those would have topped my list.

For some of you however, lucky enough to be in the “federal disaster area” (I am 3 miles out), you will be waiting a week or more for your power.  But if you are looking for a real time update, PSNH (Public Services of New Hampshire) are keeping a micro-blog at twitter (http://twitter.com/psnh).  Too bad you don’t have power or internet (or even dial-up) to be able to read it.  Still, I have to give PSNH props to using the “new media” to try to communicate to their customers.

Our provider, National Grid, didn’t even update their web site with ETA times during the outage.  (I bet the same stale web page is still out there if I went to look.)  You could put your phone number in and get an ETA for your house, but that was about 32 hours off when I checked it.  As for the “old media”, well, the storm didn’t really affect Boston, so it wasn’t really a news story in their eyes.  We pretty much got nothing on the TV or radio about our situtation. (Now I know what the people in the 413 area code fell like when decisions are made that affect them on Beacon hill.)

So while PSNH’s micro-blog or Flickr page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/psnh/) may seem like a waste to the people who can’t get to it but really want to, I would have rather had that then no communication at all.  I still haven’t checked out PSNH’s YouTube feed (http://www.youtube.com/psnhspokesman), I am saving myself.  I don’t want to blow the whole experience all at one time.  My favorite Flickr post though pretty much sums up what it looked like here.