Schools Closed Until Monday

By John Voket

“This is ground zero.”

Those words summed up the condition of electrical infrastructure in Newtown and Monroe, according to Ken Bowes, CL&P’s vice president of energy delivery. The utility official attended a November 1 briefing with town officials at the local Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

The news of the severity of outages at that meeting prompted First Selectman Pat Llodra and Police Chief Michael Kehoe to request school officials cancel classes until Monday, November 7.

Since the rogue winter storm that cut power to nearly a million CL&P customers subsided Sunday, October 30, local police, fire volunteers, ambulance crews, health officials and Newtown facilities capable of providing heightened medical and dementia care have all been working at capacity to address critical needs and calls for help.

Just before press time November 3, Public Works Director Fred Hurley was still warning residents to not attempt to clear wires or trees that may be touching or near any cables because as power is recharging lines there is a heightened risk for injury or death.

First Selectman Pat Llodra reiterated a warning put out by Governor Dannel Malloy about the increasing number of individuals affected by carbon monoxide poisoning. Emergency Management Director and Sandy Hook Fire Chief William Halstead added that overnight, there were three more calls where Newtowners had to be treated for what is described as “the silent killer.”

Across the state, more than a half-dozen deaths were caused by CO poisoning as of Wednesday, versus one reported electrocution. Mr Bowes asked that people also be reminded to keep any generators or heating devices that may throw off carbon monoxide outside of living areas.

Gov Malloy reminded residents to open garage doors if they are using their cars to temporarily warm up or to recharge electrical devices or cellphones; not to bring any generators, grills, or heating appliances not powered by electricity into their homes; and to keep wood-fired heating devices well ventilated as well.

State Representative Chris Lyddy confirmed that President Barack Obama had signed an emergency authorization that expedites necessary assistance to the state. Rep Lyddy had been stationed in the community since Tuesday morning, answering calls and corresponding as needed to state officials.

As contractors and tree and utility crews poured into town, and into a regional staging area at Fairfield Hills, Mr Hurley has been reporting on progress opening local roads. On Thursday morning, he said there were still dozens of roads that had compromised passage, but that every home in town was accessible, even if by detoured access.

Mrs Llodra said drivers should assume there are still hazardous condition on every town road, and to operate with extreme caution. She said roads that may have been cleared initially are still subject to having large limbs and wires come down, or to have crews working on the street.

The shelter at Newtown Middle School is open 24 hours a day, and residents are encouraged to go there if they can, especially if they are cold or medically fragile. A Bethel VNA nurse is on hand at the middle school to help with any medical concerns and there has been a state social worker and a mental health professional working in town with Health District Director Donna Culbert.

Showers are still available at the high school, Masonicare at 139 Toddy Hill Road, and Newtown Youth Academy at Fairfield Hills. Electrical charging stations are open at the high school, NYA, Newtown Municipal Center, and Masonicare.

At a statewide briefing Thursday, Gov Malloy said there were still 432,000 CL&P customers without power, although Jeff Butler, the utility’s president, said all transmission lines and electrical sub-stations are now fully powered. The governor urged residents to not approach or engage crews as they are working so power can be reestablished as quickly as possible.

Besides using its full compliment of workers, plus United Illuminating crews, the utility had called in hundreds of retirees, mutual aid from 20 states and Canada to work on the unprecedented outages.

Mr Bowes said that home and business owners can expedite power restoration by evaluating whether the service conduit attached to the house or building is compromised. If so, owners can contact a licensed electrician to restore that equipment so when crews arrive in the area, they can rehook and restore power with maximum speed.

Locally, Mrs Llodra said she is continuing CodeRED updates to 13,490 subscribers, and Newtown’s utility liaison, Jacqui Borges-King, said a dozen dedicated power and a dozen dedicated tree crews had fanned out across town Thursday morning. At that time there were still 8,871 Newtown restorations to still complete.

Ms Culbert and her team was working to get all available food service businesses up and running, and there was talk that the high school might open its cafeteria for hot food service at some point before the weekend. Rep Lyddy said there have been boil water alerts for homes on the Olmstead and Chestnut Tree water systems as a precaution.

Drinking water and emergency meals are being distributed at the Sandy Hook main fire headquarters on Riverside Road, and dumpsters for spoiled food have been installed at the high school as well as the Botsford and Hawleyville firehouses. The landfill will be open to receive storm debris from dawn until dusk daily. When all is said and done, Gov Malloy estimated the storm will have generated 4.2 million yards of debris.

Check NewtownBee.com or the newspaper’s Facebook page for updates on all storm-related issues as they develop.