The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
POWER LOSS COULD BE ‘EXTENDED’
Caution urged in cleanup
TORRINGTON — Public works crews were working at full speed Wednesday, cutting trees and clearing debris to open roadways in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Isaias to allow for the focus on restoring electricity.
But nearly 7,500 people remained without power late Wednesday afternoon in the city, according to Eversource, after the storm pounded Connecticut with heavy rain and wind Tuesday.
“While the storm has passed, there is still a great deal of work being done to identify priority areas for public safety (downed wires) and road safety (downed trees that do not involve wires),” Mayor Elinor Carbone said on her Facebook page. “Please do not drive around a fallen tree when wires are visibly impacted.”
The mayor also thanked Torrington’s first responders and public works crews who were back out in force “this morning assessing the damage and facilitating work with Eversource.”
Eversource and United Illuminating reported Wednesday that it may take days to restore power to the hundreds of thousands of customers whose homes were impacted by the storm.
In Winsted, Mayor Candy Perez headed into town Wednesday to check in, since her home on Highland Lake is without power or cell service.
“Town Hall’s out,” she said. “The only place that seems to have power or internet is the Department of Public Works.”
She got a update from Town Manager Robert Geiger on the storm cleanup, and said Eversource was assessing the damage in town all day.
“They say it could be at least four days before people are back online, but some
people could be up before others,” Perez said. “They’re calling in crews from Canada to help out.”
Winsted’s public works crews did as much as they could to help out by clearing debris from the roadways. “They’re not able to do more,” Perez said. “They can’t take trees off power lines.”
Torrington’s Emergency Management Director and Fire Chief Peter Towey also was busy dealing with the numerous outages in the city, and was concerned for the safety of residents.
“About 40 percent of the city is without power at this time, and there’s no clear restoration plans or time frame from Eversource,” Towey said. “Of course, we continue to advocate for Torrington, to get power restored as soon as possible. But it looks like there might be an extended power outage.”
“We will be forwarding updates as they are available. We are asking residents to exercise caution and take steps to prepare for the extended outage,” he said.
Towey reminded residents to be careful while cleaning up their yards and streets. “If a tree’s down, use caution,” he said. “There might be an electrical wire caught in the branches. Any lines that are down should be considered energized and dangerous.
“Also, if the police or fire department is secured an area with tape or cones, it’s been done for a reason,” he said. “Make sure you stay away ... Don’t remove cones and drive around them.”
Towey also reminded drivers that many traffic signals are not working.
“With all the traffic signs out, make sure you change your driving habits accordingly,” he said. “Stop. Treat traffic signal intersections as a four-way stop, not a rightof-way.”
The city of Torrington will is offering a charging a station in front of City Hall during business hours. Residents are asked to bring their own charging device and limit charging time to one hour. Social distancing and masks must be worn while utilizing the charging stations, Towey said.
Residents are encouraged to evaluate and implement their emergency preparedness plan. Additional information on actions to take after a power outage can located at www.redcross.org/prepare and or www.ready.gov
The emergency management director also encouraged people to call the police or fire department if they have an emergency.
Emergency alerts will be posted on torringtonct.org.
According to Eversource’s power outage map, more than 4,800 Winsted households were also without power.
Perez said some calls have come in about medical needs and charging stations. “If you have a medical concern, call 211 or 911,” she said. “If you’re having a problem with electricity or oxygen, an EMT or the hospital can help. People shouldn’t be shy about calling for a medical need or an emergency.”
Perez said the storm caught her by surprise. “I think it surprised a lot of people … It was underestimated,” she said. “We’ve been fortunate with today’s weather, though. At least it’s not too hot. And luckily, people didn’t get hurt.”
Also on Wednesday afternoon, in Sharon, the storm knocked had out power to more than 1,900 homes. In Salisbury, 1,200 homes lost power, and in Roxbury, more than 1,300 were without power, while more than 1,400 households were knocked out in North Canaan; Norfolk, nearly 1,100; New Hartford, 3,200; Morris, more than 1,100; Litchfield, nearly 2,600; and in Kent, more than 1,600. Goshen had about 1,900 people without power; and Colebrook had 666; Burlington, more than 2,900; Bethlehem, 978; and Barkhamsted, 845.