Community Corner

Joseloff: "I Am Appallingly Disappointed with CL&P's Response"

Connecticut Light and Power has not been able to restore power to any Westport customers in the day following Hurricane Sandy.

 

Connecticut Light and Power has made no progress restoring power in Westport in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

85 percent of CL&P customers in Westport were still without power as of 4:30 p.m., but at 8 o'clock this morning the town was only 83 percent in the dark, according to CL&P's power outage map. Of course, some areas must have their power cut in order for crews to begin repairs.

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

“I am appallingly disappointed with CL&P’s response,” Joseloff said during a press conference outside of the Westport Fire Department Tuesday afternoon.

CL&P’s tone prior to the storm and their pre-storm preparations led many to believe they would be on point and clean up the mess and make repairs quickly.

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

“We have yet to see it,” Joseloff said.

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There was one CL&P crew working in Westport as of Tuesday morning, while another crew was added in the afternoon, according to Joseloff.

“I had hoped we’d have a better response,” he said, adding that he was optimistic repairs would be made more quickly with the arrival of more crews.

It is going to take a long time before Westport fully recovers from the mess Sandy left and residents may get "antsy," but they will need to be patient, Joseloff said.

Westport Police Chief Dale Call spoke of precautions Westport residents should take and expectations they should have as Westport moves forward with the repair process.

“I don’t think anyone should expect things will be back to 100 percent tomorrow,” Call said.

If residents come across wires on the ground, Call said assume they are dangerous unless you know they are safe for sure. Furthermore, residents are asked to refrain from dismantling or crossing any caution tape they come across.

“For some unknown reason people think yellow tape in the road is there to be taken down or driven through,” he said.

Call urged locals to be patient with power restoration and damage repairs.

“Give it a little time. This is not the first rodeo we have been in,” Call said, adding that this is the fourth major storm in recent years.

Joseloff said power restoration is not the Town of Westport’s primary concern as CL&P handles those repairs. The challenge the town faces in the near future is making the streets safe, according to Joseloff.

Deputy Fire Chief Robert Kepchar said he was concerned about the potential danger after many areas have their power restored. Sandy left a lot of standing water and many wires were either blown or town to the ground and left in the water. 

CL&P said it couldn’t yet give an estimate of when power will be restored for customers who lost it during Hurricane Sandy, but that thousands of people have already had power restored since Monday night.


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