New Canaanites Handle Outage Like Campers

NEW CANAAN, Conn. – Megan Steele is looking at life in New Canaan these days as a trip into the woods.

Steele and husband Jim have cooked dinners on a grill and played with their daughters Catherine, 6, and Sarah, 4, as they picked up sticks and branches felled by Tropical Storm Irene.

“It’s like we’re camping out,” said Steele, watching Catherine and Sarah playing under a makeshift tent Tuesday that’s normally used as a table. “We try to have fun.”

That’s all the Steeles and other families along Bickford Lane can do while they wait for the power to return at their homes. Most on the street, not far from Jelliff Mill Pond, are handling it well. “We’re hanging in there,” Steele said.

But after three days in the dark, many residents are asking when the power will come back. And the news isn't good: Town emergency management officials say it may take up to seven days before power is restored to all residents. As of 11:45 Tuesday night, 6,409 customers in town were without power, about 76 percent of the households, according to Connecticut Light & Power.

The Steeles could not travel far from home until Tuesday because a downed electrical wire connected to their home was blocking in three cars at the top of the driveway. Meg borrowed her father’s van to get around, while Jim rented a car to get to work in Mount Kisco, N.Y.

Neighbor Holley Wright has also engaged her family in natural fun, staining a trashcan and the pier in her home’s backyard over Jelliff Mill Pond. As she enjoys the outdoors, Wright says she’s handling the powerless days pretty well, using the pond to clean up instead of visiting homes with generator power for a warm shower. “It gets cold,” she said.

Wright admits it has become monotonous going powerless for days with seemingly no end in sight. She says it might be easier to deal with if she knew when the power would return. Still, she says her family is lucky. “You’ve got to be grateful for what you have,” she said.

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