35 Percent of Homes without Power [Update]

Update 6 a.m.

CL&P says 4,374 Westport homes remain without power as of 6 a.m. Tuesday—an improvement of more than 3,000 since Monday afternoon.

Patch will report a CL&P update Tuesday morning following a 6:30 a.m. press briefing—stay tuned.

Update 1:19 p.m.

According to CL&P, roughly 7,474 Westport residents, about 60 percent of homes in town, are without power.

First Selectman Gordon Joseloff, Fire Chief Andrew Kingsby and Congressman Jim Himes will tour Westport at 3 p.m. to assess the damage done by Irene. The tour will begin at Westport Fire Headquarters. 

Update 10:49 a.m.

According to CL&P, about 66 percent of Westport homes serviced—a total of 8,197—remain without power Monday morning.

According to Tweets posted to Westport's town website:

• Power has been restored to the Westport Public Libarary and it is open with limited staffing.
• Town Hall has lost its WiFi access.
• Westport police say to avoid Saugatuck Avenue, Wilton Road, Newtown Tunrpike, and Kings Highway South for the next 12 hours.
• Saugatuck Avenue is closed between Indian River Green and Eno Lane due to tree down.

Patch will have more information as it becomes available.

Original Story

As Hurricane Irene leaves a trail of flooding, road closures and downed power lines—as of 9:45 p.m. Sunday, 73 percent of Westport homes were without power—school officials pushed back the start of school to Sunday.

Here’s a rundown from the Westport Public Schools:

• Monday, Aug. 29: All Westport schools will be closed for teachers.
• All scheduled Professional Development activities for teachers are canceled.  
• All activities for parents and students have also been canceled.
• Tuesday, Aug. 30: All teacher, parent and student programs and activities planned for Monday will be held Tuesday.
• Wednesday, Aug. 30: First day of school.

According to CL&P, 9,085 Westport homes remained without power as of 9:45 p.m. Sunday. Town officials opened an emergency evacuation center at Saturday evening.

CL&P said about 800 line and tree crews from as far away as Florida, Ohio and Michigan are being deployed to start the power restoration process in the Nutmeg state.

"At the peak, the storm left more than 622,000 CL&P customers without power," CL&P officials said. "This sets a record, surpassing the 477,000 CL&P customers who lost power from Hurricane Gloria in 1985."

As , much of Westport spent Sunday pumping water out of homes and businesses, clearing roads of debris and even kayaking around town. See Westport Patch's on Hurricane Irene and its aftermath for information in real-time from town and surrounding communities.