Community Corner

[Updated: 12:25 a.m.] CL&P Officials: Restoration Under Way, No Time-Line Just Yet

Crews restored power to 200,000 customers across the state Monday, CL&P said, but there is still a lot more work to be down and an exact time-line is not yet available for Southington.

Updated 12:25 a.m. Tuesday.

Nearly 204,000 customers were restored with power Monday, Connecticut Light & Power officials said, but with the rare October snowstorm leaving more than that 831,000 homes and businesses without power, there's still a lot of work to be done.

Residents are asked to have patience as roads are continually cleared and issues addressed. The anticipation is it could still be up to a week before all power is restored in Southington.

"We expect the pace of restoration to quicken as damage assessments are completed, blocked roads are cleared and additional crews arrive to help with the effort," Jeffrey Butler, CL&P’s president and chief operating officer, said in a press release.

"Our projection for complete restoration remains the same: we expect it to take a week or more in some areas. We will continue bringing in more crews to improve on that projection and we will provide more detailed restoration estimates as soon as we have sufficient information to offer specific projections," Butler said.

In Southington, outages exceeded 13,700 at their peak and 10,864 outages remained as of 12 a.m. Tuesday, according to data provided by CL&P. The numbers marked restoration to more than 2,000 customers in the community since 6 a.m. Monday.

Statweide there were still 706,854 without power.

Garry Brumback said the town is operating a "24 hour" restoration effort at this point, which began last night when a dedicated CL&P crew joined the town's Department of Public Works to begin clearing roads of wires and debris in preparation for restoration.

Brumback said the crews cleared 18 blocked areas already, but have been challenged as additional cooling overnight Sunday caused freezing on trees and the warm weather Monday led to additional outages.

"For a department that is not designed for around the clock work, these guys have done a great job of addressing issues as quickly as they've come up," Brumback said. "CL&P has worked hand in hand with town staff through the night Sunday and throughout the day (Monday). They will continue to work throughout the night again tonight."

Crew members are working in shifts to assure that while they are working as much as possible, they are rested enough to handle heavy equipment without any safety issues.

Many areas of the state, particularly in the northwest and north central parts of Connecticut still have roads blocked and areas inaccessible to crews, slowing assessment processes and restoration efforts, CL&P said.

Although work has begun, there is no exact time-line as crews continue to clear roads and finish assessments, both CL&P and Brumback said. A time-line could be available as early as Tuesday morning.

Here are some additional tips from CL&P to help residents follow the process step-by-step and stay safe while waiting for power to return.
 
Important Safety Reminders

  • If you come across a downed line, consider it to be live and dangerous. Call 9-1-1 immediately and report it. Stay at least 10 feet away from the downed wire.
  • If a generator is installed incorrectly to a home's wiring, it can cause power to "backfeed," or flow back into the power lines, creating a dangerous situation for the public and for our line crews who may be working nearby. To avoid this situation, have a qualified electrician connect the generator with a transfer switch, so that it is not connected directly to your home’s wiring. 
  • To avoid the accumulation of deadly carbon monoxide, only use a generator outdoors. Never use a generator indoors, in an attached garage, a basement, or a crawl space.
  • Avoid using a generator in a partially enclosed inhabited space, even if it is ventilated; opening doors and windows or using fans will not prevent carbon monoxide build-up. If placing it outdoors, make sure the generator is far from a home's doors, windows and vents.

To report or check on an outage
Residents with Internet access can access a town-by-town list at http://www.cl-p.com/outage/mobile.aspx or by phone at (800) 286-2000. You can also get updates on Southington by texting "Outage 06489" to 24612. All local communities including Plantsville, Marion and Milldale, are listed under Southington (texting fees may apply).


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