Community Corner

With Updates: 100 Percent Of Madison Without Power; Trees And Lines Down Throughout Town

How To Report Power Outages, Downed Lines, Water Service Outages; CL&P, Connecticut Water Company Can Be Reached By Phone Or Online

Madison's Deputy Director of Emergency Management Ed Brunt says that most of the town is without power and that trees and lines are down around town.

"Everyone who is without power should call and report it to CL&P," Brunt said. "Their automated phone system works very well. This will make sure that CL&P has an accurate picture of where the problems are. Don't assume that one of your neighbors has already called." Phone numbers, along with online contact information, for both CL&P and the Connecticut Water Company are provided below.

A driving ban has been implemented by the Madison Police Department until 3 p.m. Sunday.

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

First Selectman Fillmore McPherson said the town housed five people overnight at the shelter. "We’ll start checking roads after it passes," he said.

The town has asked that residents only call 911 with true emergencies; the Emergency Dispatchers do not know when the power will be restored, for instance. The general phone number for the Police Department is 203.245.2721.

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

As of 8:51 a.m., CL&P was reporting that all 9,048 customers in Madison were without power. As of 6 a.m., 3,896 power outages had been reported for Madison, meaning about 43 percent of customers served in town. As of 7:25 a.m., that number had risen to 7,613 or 84 percent. As of 8:06 a.m., 8,323 were without power, or 91 percent.

In the state of Connecticut at 6 a.m., of 1,237,208 customers served, 102,426, or about 8 percent are without power. As of 7:26 a.m., that number had risen to 222,949 or 18%.

Below is information about how to contact CL&P and the Connecticut Water Company.

Connecticut Water Company

Connecticut Light and Power (CL&P) has opened its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Berlin.

About 800 CL&P and contractor line and tree crews are ready to restore power to customers affected by outages. "Our CL&P crews are ready to go to work as soon as it is safe to do so and we have additional support crews beginning to arrive from as far away as Florida, Ohio and Michigan," said Jeff Butler, CL&P president and chief operating officer, in a prepared statement.  "We continue communicating with town and state officials to make sure all of our efforts are coordinated."

“During the height of the storm, we will not have our crews out in the field.  Their safety is as important to us as the safety of the public we serve,” said Butler.  “Once conditions allow, we will begin responding to ... calls to de-energize downed wires and make the area safe.  At the same time, we will work with town public works crews to clear roads for emergency vehicles and begin restoring power to our customers.”  

During the storm, CL&P is encouraging customers to:


·        Stay at least 10 feet away from all wires! Assume any downed, hanging or burning power lines are live and dangerous. If a power line falls on your vehicle while you’re inside, stay there.  Don’t touch anything outside the vehicle and wait for emergency crews.  Call 9-1-1 immediately with any emergency condition.  
·        To report outages or check the status of an outage visit cl-p.com or call 800-286-2000.  Our automated phone and on-line systems rapidly process your report and help us speed restoration efforts.  They also provide restoration estimates as soon as they’re available.
·        Do you have a generator?  Make sure it has been properly installed by a licensed electrician.  Improperly installed generators can feed electricity back into power lines and pose a deadly situation for line and emergency restoration workers.  Always operate generators outdoors to avoid carbon monoxide hazards.

For helpful tips and news updates, go to our website at cl-p.com, follow us on Twitter @CTLightandPower and like us at Facebook.com/CTLightandPower.  You can also get updates on outages in your town by texting “outage” and your zip code to 24612.

Connecticut Water Company Information

Connecticut Water Company has prepared for the pending and says it will do everything possible to ensure that our customers have service and quality water through the event

"We recognize how essential water is to life and have personnel trained and emergency contingency plans in place for events such as this."    

"We have been working closely with state and local officials in planning our response to the event.   Backup generators to provide service to our critical facilities during a power outage and adequate fuel supplies are available to last several days should we lose power.   Our operations staff  have secured extra fuel, chemicals, equipment, and supplies and personnel are scheduled to man facilities and respond to emergencies during the storm event." 

"We do not have plans to shut down any of our systems or portions of our service area in advance of the storm and will do everything possible to maintain service and water quality throughout the event.   In the event roads or bridges are washed out and our pipes and distribution systems are impacted, we will dispatch emergency crews and work with local officials to restore service as quickly as possible.   In the event there is a water quality issue in any portion of our system, affected customers would be notified by phone and advised through the media." 

If customers experience a water service outage or emergency, please call Customer Service 24 hours at 1-800-286-5700.  

If phone service is disrupted, we will updates will be provided through our website, Facebook and the news media as necessary or customers may contact us on Facebook or by email at info@ctwater.com.  )

Connecticut Water is on Twitter (@ctwater),

Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Connecticut-Water-Company/184665858241145?sk=wall), and on

YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/CTWaterCo)

 

5am Weather Update:

As of 5 a.m., the National Hurricane Center has Irene as a weak Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. The storm is currently about 15 miles south-southeast of Atlantic City and moving north-northeast at 18 miles per hour.

Here are the latest numbers from Irene across the area as of 4 a.m.

Peak Wind Gusts/Rainfall Totals

  • Danbury, CT - 36 mph, 2.95 in
  • Bridgeport, CT - 51 mph, 1.71 in
  • Meridan, CT - 41 mph, 2.37 in
  • Groton, CT – 39 mph, 0.69 in
  • White Plains, NY – 44 mph, 3.1 in
  • JFK Airport, NY – 59mph, 4.01 in

The center of circulation is still well off to the south and west and it’s the winds right around the eye which may be the most devastating. By mid-morning these winds will make it to our area.

Please stay indoors and be safe as this is a very dangerous situation.


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