City Seeking Input on Gas Outage

Survey Asks Residents, Business Owners to Weigh in on Crisis

                  
NEWPORT, R.I. -- It’s been two months since a natural gas outage resulted in the loss of heat and hot water for thousands of Newport residents and businesses.
 
On Wednesday, the City of Newport released a survey in the hope of learning more about the kind of impact that the outage had on area residents, employees, and business owners.
 
According to City Manager Joseph Nicholson, the survey is one part of a more comprehensive after-action analysis intended to evaluate the City’s response to the crisis and provide recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of the City’s emergency management practices.
 
“The community’s response to the gas outage was truly remarkable but I think it’s vital that we continue to learn from this experience,” he said. “I would encourage anyone that was affected by the outage to go online and fill out a survey. The more that we understand about this last event, the better we can prepare for the next time.”
 
Anyone affected by the outage is encouraged to have their voices heard by visiting the City’s website, or accessing the survey directly at http://bit.ly/NewportGasOutage . Responses will be held in the strictest of confidence and data from the survey will be included in an after action report being compiled by City staff.