Community Corner

CL&P UPDATE: Power Targeted to Return 8 p.m. Wednesday

More than 4,000 Westporters still without power.

Westport First Selectman Gordon F. Joseloff said today Connecticut Light & Power Co. has pledged to have full restoration of power in Westport by 8 p.m. Wednesday.

"We were on a conference call with CL&P and state officials a short time ago and that was the pledge that was made," he said in a press release issued shortly before noon.

"We are seeing an increasing number of outside crews coming into town and the state Department of Transportation is now working with us on their roads in town."

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

Joseloff said CL&P coordinators locally told him that an earlier promise of 48 line crews in Westport by this morning and 65 by end of day were for the Norwalk region, not Westport alone.

On the state conference call, he said representatives of the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said Fairfield County must meet a threshold of $2.8 million in damage to qualify for federal aid.

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

In addition, he said state officials reported that assistance for homeowners suffering major damage from tree strikes would be available if the level of such damage rises to at least 100 homes struck.

The Fire Department reported on Sunday it had responded to at least 27 homes that were hit by falling trees.

As of 10:05 p.m., CL&P reports that 45,482 customers remain without power, down from more than 85,000 as a result of the major storm that hit the region this weekend.

In Westport, 4,844 people are still without power, which is about 40 percent of the local customers. That's down from more than 7,000 Westporters or nearly 60 percent who were without power Monday morning.

Connecticut Light & Power has resumed its efforts in restoring electricity, bringing an extra 100 trucks to the area and starting with high priority locations.

The company confirmed Monday morning that it is "unlikely" Westport will see power before Wednesday, and even then CL&P representative Kimberly Marston said they cannot promise 100 percent restoration.

More than 200 utility and tree crews are working around the clock to restore
service to customers including crews from Massachusetts, Vermont, Ohio and
Canada.

Capt. Sam Arciola of the Westport Police Department said officers are assigned to each CL&P utility crew and are working with them. The utility's plan is to target primary roads first and then move to cleaning up trees and live wires on secondary roads. A total of 134 roads are in need of service, Arciola said.

"Hopefully this list will shrink tremendously today," he said.

CL&P attributes storm damage to the heavy rain and high winds that made the soil soft and caused many trees to uproot, topple over and crush whatever was in their path.

The resulting damage included hundreds of broken poles, downed wires and
broken electrical equipment. The rebuild will be extensive in the heavily
damaged areas, according to the release.

The utility says it is in the process of supporting state and municipal workers efforts to safely re-open roads.  They have responded to more than 280 emergency 911 calls across coverage areas since the storm began.


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