As Power Restores, Westport Returns to Normalcy

At the start of day Thursday, about 1,000 Westporters were still waiting for the lights to turn on, after five days without power.

By 11 p.m., that number had dwindled to 47 customers after Connecticut Light & Power, AT&T, Northeast Utilities and other crews worked to restore power. By 2 p.m. Friday, 86 residents were still without power, up from the 25 reported outages earlier today.

As more residents saw their homes illuminate, the town began to return to business as usual. Children were back in school, after a three-day break that resulted because of dangerous roads and no power in the school buildings. Parents returned to work and left the hotels they stayed in temporarily for a good night's sleep at home. Even golfers were seen at Longshore Club Park as weather reached near 70 degrees.

Saturday's severe rain and winds downed trees and wires, left nearly 7,000 Westport customers in the dark and was the cause of one fatality in Westport.

The restoration effort began slowly and has been a source of controversy and frustration for many residents, area businesses and government officials. 

"It's frustrating and we're doing the best we can," First Selectman Gordon Joseloff said Thursday evening. "We are winding down and looking at how we did, what we did and how we could do better."

Joseloff said he would discuss with Representative Town Meeting moderator Hadley Rose about the RTM Public Protection Committee evaluating the response.

To that end, on a larger level, Governor M. Jodi Rell has asked the Department of Public Utility Control and the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security to look into complaints that CL&P and United Illuminating Co. were slow to respond to the storm Saturday night and Sunday. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has also called for an investigation of the utilities' storm response and said public hearings should be held in the towns directly affected by the storm, such as Westport.

"There must be an immediate investigation of the charge that CL&P, UI and AT&T placed higher priority on minimizing overtime costs than on the quick restoration of power and phone service," he said in a news release Thursday.

As the power restoration and cleanup continues, Joseloff urges all residents to begin tallying the damage. 

In order to seek possible federal reimbursement of expenses and losses associated with last weekend's storm, Rell has advised residents and businesses to report storm-related damages as quickly as possible. Joseloff said residents and businesses can record the damage online by filling out a storm damage survey, which must be submitted to state and federal officials by Monday. He also urges they take photos of the damage.

Anyone with questions is asked to call the Building Department at 203-341-5025.

The Storm By the Numbers:

• Westport Fire Chief Chris Ackley called it the "worst storm in 25 years."
• Between midnight and 1 a.m. Saturday, the night of the storm, the Westport Police Department received 884 calls about power outages, car accidents or other calls for service.
• The police responded to 202 calls that night and referred others to the fire department or handled the call over the phone.
• There were nine car accidents and one fatality on Saturday.
• On Sunday, police received 900 phone calls reporting similar problems.
• About 100 utility poles had to be replaced
• 27 homes were damaged by trees falling on them
• 57 utility crews and nearly 200 workers came to aid in the restoration
• 7,000 people lost power and 47 are still waiting for the lights to turn on.