Tree Work Needed To Restore New Canaan Power

NEW CANAAN, Conn. – New Canaan residents without power after Tuesday’s heavy rain and winds were waiting Wednesday for Connecticut Light & Power crews to handle fallen trees and limbs individually.

Restoring power in New Canaan and some other portions of the state was a challenge as crews worked on smaller outages caused by downed trees and branches rather than fixing a main circuit or substation, CL&P spokesman Mitch Gross said. “This is a lot of smaller repairs that have to be made,” Gross said. “They need to be (fixed) on an individual basis. These crews have to go out to each one of these."

The storm closed portions of 11 roads, New Canaan Emergency Management Director Mike Handler said. It also caused about 10 percent of homes to lose power, he said. As of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, New Canaan Public Schools had classes Wednesday on a 90-minute delay as a safety precaution.  

CL&P dispatched its own crews as well as those from sister companies from out of state to help restore power. Three of those crews were in New Canaan on Wednesday.

The town’s emergency operations center was not activated, Handler said, because the storm was “fairly typical.” It was not like Hurricane Irene and the freak October snowstorm from last year, which had many residents out of power for more than a week.

“We don’t have the resources we had in a full declaration emergency. It was the appropriate response,” he said.

Residents who want more information about power outages can contact CL&P at 1-800-286-2000.

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