Community Corner
Police Service Calls Show Storm Was One of Most Damaging 'In Nearly A Decade'
The storm-related service calls were high, police said - so high in fact, that they were coming in for almost a week.
When the rare October snowstorm touched down in Southington, the Southington Police Department wasn’t just busy. In the dispatch center, Sgt. Lowell DePalma said the phones were ringing off the hook.
“I came in about 6 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 29) and was here that morning until 2 a.m.,” DePalma said on Tuesday. “We had three dispatchers to start with, maybe a few others by the end of the night, but the phones never stopped ringing. They just went from call to call.”
The calls weren’t restricted to the 24-hours during and after the storm either, he said. For the next week, the department continued to receive reports of downed wires, power outages and fallen trees associated with the heavy, wet snow that caused massive damage across the state.
As of noon on Tuesday, a dedicated CL&P crew was closing in on fixing all late reported outages but across the state, there were still 20,000 without power. The utility has said over the last three days that all repairs related to storm damage would be completed by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.
“This wasn’t a one day response. We responded to storm-related reports for more than a week,” DePalma said.
Police were indeed busy. On Tuesday, the department released there storm numbers for the first time after collecting the information and the figures showed one of the most damaging storms the town has seen in nearly a decade.
The reported the following calls for service, which were compiled based on the complaints made to dispatchers.
- Moving Motor Vehicle Accidents: 43
- Disabled motor vehicles: 18
- Welfare Checks: 25
- Public Hazards: 41
- Roads Closed: 57
- Wires Down: 251
- Trees down: 69
- Building Issues: 0
- Sewer Issues: 0
- Water Issues: 3
- Traffic Details: 3
- Traffic Light Malfunctions: 5
- Other Traffic Matters: 8
DePalma said the figures are based on initial complaints. If a call is made for trees down and the tree actually hit a house, it would not have been recorded as a building issue, he said.
In addition, the department assisted the Community Emergency Response Team with the shelter, which saw an average of 60 residents per night and served over 200 meals per day while open. The shelter was open from 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, through 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4.
“It was indeed a busy week, but we got through it,” DePalma said.
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