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Since the storm hit on Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 4, Eversource has been working to respond to nearly 700,000 reported power outages across the state, with hundreds of thousands of their customers remaining without power as of Wednesday, Aug. 5.
Eversource Vice President of Electric Operations in Connecticut Michael Hayhurst said that most of the damage to the utility company’s system was caused by the fierce winds brought by the storm, which brought trees and branches down onto power lines wreaking havoc on the system.
As of 3:20 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 5, nearly 50 percent of Eversource’s customers were still without power, with 618,796 of its 1,281 Connecticut customers (48.3 percent) still reporting outages.
“The impact from this storm, in terms of power outages, is greater than Superstorm Sandy.," Hayhurst said. "The fierce winds with this storm caused widespread power outages and historic damage, affecting customers in all of the 149 communities we serve in Connecticut.
“We are taking to the skies to conduct a detailed damage assessment of our 17,000 miles of overhead equipment and using patrollers on the ground, so we can efficiently deploy our resources to get power restored for all of our customers.
Eversource said on Twitter that they expect “multi-day outages” in areas hit the hardest by the storm on Wednesday morning.
“With many customers still working remotely during this challenging time, we recognize how important it is to have reliable power,” Hayhurst added. “Working under the challenging conditions related to the pandemic, our crews are positioned around the state and ready to respond.
“We recognize how difficult it is to be without electricity especially while many people continue working from home during the pandemic,” he said. “Our crews will continue working until every customer has power back while also complying with stringent pandemic protocols.”
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