Community Corner

Joseloff Asks Westporters to Welcome Saturday Trick or Treaters [UPDATE]

Westport First Selectman Gordon Joseloff thanked Westporters who followed the town's recommendation not to trick-or-treat Monday night because of storm damage and asked residents to welcome trick-or-treaters on Saturday.

Update: 3:00 p.m.

Given the pace of cleanup and restoration efforts Monday, the town of Westport made the recommendation to postpone trick-or-treating until Saturday purely for safety reasons, Joseloff said. 

“We always are on the side of caution,” he said. “Many people followed our recommendation for which we thank them; many did not. For the sake of those who did, I ask that Westporters welcome costumed visitors on Saturday.

Find out what's happening in Westportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“The storm caused enough disruption and if we can make some disappointed youngsters happy, we should collectively go that extra step.”


Find out what's happening in Westportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 Update: 8:30 a.m.

Friday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. is when CL&P expects to have 99 percent of their customers' power restored in Westport.

Currently 1,614 residents and businesses in Westport remain in the dark. That makes up about 13 percent of Westport's 12,339 CL&P customers, according to Katie Blint, a representative for CL&P.

672,000 CL&P customers remain powerless statewide, which is down from 831,000 customers on Sunday. That makes up about 54 percent of CL&P's 1.2 million customers in Connecticut. 

Update: 3:30 p.m.

The Town of Westport strongly urges that Trick or Treating be postponed to Saturday, November 5 rather than tonight because of significant safety risks along roads and sidewalks.

After a meeting of Town officials and Local Emergency Management Personnel it was determined that due to recent snow storm and power outages, it would not be safe to proceed with trick or treat activities normally held tonight for Halloween.

Wires remain down, and there are hundreds of damaged trees and downed branches throughout Westport.  Even if your neighborhood appears to have minimal damage, it still might not be safe.  Falling tree limbs, slippery surface conditions, and electrocution hazards remain possible throughout town. 

Parents are urged in the strongest possible terms not to let their children trick or treat tonight. Keep them inside and plan on a safer night this Saturday, November 5th.

 For more information, please call 203-341-5000


Update: 1:00 p.m.

The enormity of the power outages statewide is hampering CL&P's ability to respond to Westport.

First Selectman Gordon Joseloff said today the Town of Westport is making every effort to restore power to residents, but the outages statewide are making it difficult for CL&P to respond to Westport.

“Just like Irene, we fared a bit better than many other communities in the storm, but the severity and extent of the outages statewide are hampering CL&P’s ability to rapidly address our relatively limited outages,” he said.

“We are making every effort to restore power to residents but it could be days or more before everyone is back. CL&P is warning it could be a week or more to restore the state.”

Joseloff said most of Westport’s streets are open and passable with crews still working to clear remaining roadways.

“As with the case with Irene, power crews often have to shut down circuits to restore some outages,” he said. “That is why we see the occasional spike in the number of outages.”

He said in addition, with heavy snow still on many trees, new instances of falling trees and power lines are occurring.

Joseloff said two Westport residents made use of Weston’s overnight shelter at Weston Middle School, 135 School Road.

“Westport and Weston are combining our resources on sheltering,” he said. “With about 70 percent of Weston out, their shelter needs are greater. We are sending our CERT volunteers to help Weston staff their shelter.”

Joseloff said  is open to residents without power as is the , acting as warming stations and places to recharge batteries.

He said regular updates will be made by the town’s CodeRed emergency telephone notification system, via WWPT-FM 90.3, the town’s website, as well as Twitter.

Joseloff said new to this emergency is an interactive map on the town website showing the location of storm-related incidents.

The town is in frequent communication with state officials, including Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who is holding regular statewide conference calls, Joseloff said.

 “We are doing the best we can under the circumstances,” he said.

Original story:

23 percent of Westport, about 3,000 residents and businesses, remains in the dark.

Specifically, 2,904 Westport residents are powerless as of 10:30 a.m., according to Pam Medlock, a representative for CL&P. 

Medlock said about 831,000 CL&P customers statewide were without power at the peak of the outage. 144,000 customers have had power restored since 6 p.m. Saturday.

"There are no projections as to when full restoration will take place," Medlock said. "Some customers can expect up to a week."

Medlock was unable to make any predictions as to when Westport can expect full restoration of power. 


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