"It Looks Like A War Zone Here," Says Madison First Selectman

No injuries or deaths have been reported in Madison as of late Sunday due to Hurricane Irene, but parts of the town do look like a "war zone," said First Selectman Fillmore McPherson.

He said there were several calls for emergency responders late Saturday and early Sunday, but they were for routine medical emergencies and transport to the medical facility in Guilford.

McPherson said in a release issued around 4 p.m. that the town did sustain signficant damage from the hurricane.

"It looks like a war zone here"

"Many houses and streets were flooded in the lower lying areas along the water.  At high tide between 11am and noon, stone jetties were under water with heavy wave action on top," he said. "Even heavier damage resulted from trees being felled from the high winds.  This was a combination of large limbs breaking and entire trees being uprooted because of the water-soaked soil.  In many cases power lines are involved, with some utility poles being pulled down."

“It looks like a war zone here.  The downed trees and power lines affect virtually every street in town,” McPherson said.  “Passage is difficult if not impossible in these areas.  In those cases without power line involvement, the Public Works crews, the volunteer fire departments, the police, and private contractors are working as we speak to create safe passage lanes, with our primary goal being to create access for emergency vehicles.  We are working with CL&P to clear the major roads that have power lines tangled with the downed trees.”

He said that, in addition to problems with the roads, many homes sustained damage from falling trees.  "Building Officials will be inspecting these homes starting on Monday in order to assist the home owners," he said.

Downtown seems to be OK

McPherson said the downtown area seemed to be relatively undamaged, upon a first inspection."Driving through it, it seems to be OK," he said. "Dead as a doornail, but there appears to be no damage there."

Most of the damage in town appears to be from flooding and trees down, he said. "There does not appear to be a lot of damage from flying projectiles," he said. "There is extensive damage from trees. So if the tree missed your house, it's not a problem."

McPherson said there is power at town hall, where the emergency operation center is based and a generator is located. He said the town's number one task is to clear the roads and streets so that emergency vehicles can have access as needed. "It's not going to look pretty for a while, but we at least want a lane open," he said.

He said the timing of the clearing process was unclear, since the Connecticut Light & Power Company has to clear the power lines in some of those areas. "We are rapidly taking care of the problems that are strictly trees, but so many have power line involvement. We've given several urgent locations to CL&P, and they possibly will get to some of those today or tonight. If not, they will hit the ground running at 6 a.m. to clear off as many as they can."

Timing of electricity restoration depends on CL&P

He said the second task will be to restore power to the town, and that the timing of that depends on CL&P. With power out around the state, he said he does not have an estimate as to when that might happen.

People who have homes damaged by flooding or downed trees are welcome to call the town building department on Monday 203.245.5618 if they need help determining whether a home is inhabitable, McPherson said.

"If you want to make sure your house is structurally sound, you can call the building office tomorrow or Tuesday," McPherson said. "The inspectors can help you evaluate that. Inspectors will be evaluating those cases that we know about where trees hit houses." He said homeowners are also welcome to call building contractors and get going on the process of rebuilding, "but the inspectors are here to help."

West Wharf damaged, Madison Beach Hotel appears to be OK

McPherson cautioned people to street clear of power lines, even if the power appears to be off. "Just because the power is out, that doesn't mean it's safe," he said. "Somebody might have a generator that back feeds into the system and that could create enough kick to kill somebody."

Town officials, as of late Sunday, have not yet been able to evaluate the town's Surf Club, because Surf Club Road is still flooded. "But we do understand there is significant damage to West Wharf," he said, another one of the town's beaches.

The Madison Beach Hotel, adjacent to West Wharf Beach, appears to have weathered the storm. The hotel is near the end of a re-construction process that has taken several years, and is now due to open in March. McPherson said the design of the hotel, which is built up much higher than the old hotel, may have helped reduce problems from the storm. "It's built up high enough that water went under it, but it appears to be OK," he said.

Town shelter still open

at the town gym at 8 Campus Drive off of Duck Hole Road, about five people stayed overnight, along with one dog, he said. A few people have left and a few more have come in. Most people at the shelter were concerned about or affected by flooding, McPherson said.

McPherson said he was tremendously pleased with the response of the town's emergency personnel during the storm. "I can say I'm constantly amazed and proud of the civic mindedness of the people who are lifting very heavy loads for the town," he said.

Restoration of power could take a week or more in some areas

Statement from CL&P on restoration of power:

With the remnants of Hurricane Irene leaving  Connecticut, about 800 CL&P and contractor line and tree crews from as far away as Florida, Ohio and Michigan are now being deployed to start the restoration process.   At the peak, the storm left more than 622,000 CL&P customers without power.  This sets a record, surpassing the 477,000 CL&P customers who lost power from Hurricane Gloria in 1985.

“In preparing for this hurricane, we were able to more than double the size of our workforce, said Jeff Butler, CL&P president and chief operating officer.  “Now that it is safe for our crews to be out, we’re able to mobilize all of our available resources.  At the same time, we continue trying to get additional crews to expedite our efforts.”

Crews will be responding to priority calls and cutting the power to downed lines to make areas safe.  Restoring power to critical customers such as hospitals, police and fire departments will be a top priority.  We will also be working closely with town public works crews to clear roads for emergency vehicles and so our crews can assess the damage and begin making repairs.  

Later this evening, we will adjust our work schedules to ensure restoration efforts continue around the clock with a majority of our workforce working during daylight hours.  

“The damage from this storm was unprecedented and the restoration process may take a week or longer in some areas,” said Butler.  “We ask for and appreciate the understanding and patience of our customers during this difficult process.”

In the meantime, CL&P is reminding 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 online systems can rapidly process your report and help us speed restoration efforts.  
·        Check your 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 (texting fees may apply).