Sandy’s Aftermath and Recovery

We continue to stay in touch with CL&P for updates on restoration efforts. Power restoration is a three step process:
 
Step 1: The power company must ensure that electricity has been cutoff to downed power lines in the interest of safety. Unfortunately, this often requires depriving surrounding streets of electricity.
Step 2: Tree clearing, involving both state and local roads
Step 3: After debris has been cleared away, repairs can take place and service will be restored.
 
Power outages:

CL & P:  860-286-2000
 
From CL&P:

Today’s goals include the completion of damage assessments, development of a global (system-wide) restoration projection, to execute restoration work with a focus on town-identified critical customers, like water treatment plants, and restoring the largest amount of customers in the shortest amount of time.
 
Ashford

• Ashford Transfer Station Hours Today

31 October 2012 – Transfer Station will be open 2 PM until 8 PM

• Ashford Municipal Offices

October 31, 2012 – The Town offices will be closed today to normal business.  The Town Clerk will be available to issue ballots in her office, and the Tax Collector and Assessor will have limited hours.  Please call before coming to the offices.

• Ashford School Closure

Ashford School will be closed on Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Hampton 

• School closed:  Hampton elementary and parish hill are both closed Wednesday, 10/31. 
• Windy hill road is now cleared and open. 
• The transfer station will be open Wednesday 8am- 5pm. 
• The community room at the town hall will be open Wednesday at 8am in case anybody wants to charge their phones.

 
Stafford
 

• There will be one meeting at 6:00 PM in front of the Stafford Savings Bank in the big Y plaza. For those who may still be without power or people who may have questions.
• Town offices will resume a normal schedule tomorrow.
• Please call 911 with any emergencies. Once again be safe.

Tolland
 
Town crews along with CL&P crews worked throughout the night to restore power and open roads. We are at about 58% without power.
 
This is due to circuits being temporarily shut down so that restoration work can take place.  CL&P says their restoration plan is to focus on their circuits that have more then 100 customers on them.  For Tolland this means the Buff Cap Rd., Tolland Stage Rd., Anthony Rd, Anderson Rd and Walbridge Hill areas. 
 
In addition Town Crews along with CL&P are working to open the remaining blocked roads which include Weigold/Gehring, Sugar Hill/Kosely, Ridge/Russell, Kendall Mtn/Sugar Hill and Charter Rd.
 

• We are also doing a road assessment of the entire Town to identify low hanging wires which may impact the passage of school busses and public safety equipment. 
• At this point we have closed our shelters, but if there is a need we can identify shelters in the area for temporary stay.
• There will be no formal debris locations established for this storm event.
• Non potable water for toilets is available at the fire training center.

A message from the Town Manager:
 
While I wish we had more resources from CL&P, I appreciate the dedicated efforts of the assigned crews who have been working around the clock to assist with restoration efforts.
 
What at times looks like an easy fix can be a complicated circuitry issue. Saying all that we are in constant contact with our utility liaison and will continue to push until all power is restored to residents of this community. Again we have been challenged by weather events but we as community will come out stronger in the end as we have done for each event I have been involved with over the last eight years. As bad as we have it here in the recent storms let us not forget those in NJ and NY and people along the coast line of Ct. who have suffered catastrophic loses. Our hearts and prayers go out to them.
 
Willington
 
As of 7:00 Wednesday morning, 38% of Willington CL&P customers are without power. 
 

• School has been cancelled for today here in Willington and in many of our neighboring towns, including Mansfield and Ashford.
• Hall School was opened as a storm resource center yesterday and many people showed up to take showers, charge cell phones, check the internet and get restoration information.   The resource center will be open again today from 6am to 9pm.

 
Many of the major roads that were blocked by downed trees and/or power lines have been cleared but one major blockage on Spak Road has not.  This tree took down 4 telephone poles and a transformer and is a priority for both the Town and CL&P to clean up as it is the cause of over 400 outages spreading all the way down Turnpike Road and beyond. 
 
Public Works stands at the ready to assist the CL&P crews with this clearing work.  Other roads that still need to be addressed are:
 
-Spak
-Mason
-Daleville
-Polster
-Cowles
-Turnpike Road Extenstion
 
Please be mindful of debris in the roads and please use extreme caution. Do not go near or touch any downed wires.

• The Willington Town Office Building will be open today during regular business hours:  9AM – 2PM.  The Willington Public Library will be open regular business hours as well.
• The Willington EOC has power and phones today, as does Hall School.
• The Transfer Station will be open today as well, however, because they do not have power to operate the compactor, we are urging residents to save their bulky waste until the weekend.
• The Willington Hill Fire Department (on Old Farm Road) and the Willington Fire Department #1 (Rt. 32) and the Storm Resource Center at Hall School will all be open tonight for Trick-Or-Treaters. 

Important Phone Numbers and Addresses:
 
For emergency, call 911.  Otherwise, to report downed power lines or trees, call:
 
Emergency Operations Center (EOC): 860-429-0288
 
Woodstock
 
Wednesday, October 31st 9:25 am Town Hall will be open for regular business until 6 pm.

Per the First Selectman, Town employees and CLP continue to work hard, reducing the number of fully or partially closed roads to 4.
 
At the moment, approximately 1,600 homes are still without power. Today, we expect to see a transition from making roads safe for passage to actually turning the lights back on in Woodstock.
 

• Feel free to stop by to use our bathrooms, charge cell phones, hook up to the Internet, or have a cup of coffee during business hours.
• The Woodstock Elementary and Middle Schools are open and Woodstock Academy is closed.
• As in years past, the Woodstock Town Hall does not regulate Halloween Trick or Treating, so parents will need to decide for themselves as to whether to participate in this annual event.

 
As always, you should report your personal outage to CLP at 1-800-286-2000.
 

• Our Red Cross Emergency Shelter remains on standby.
   

• Showers are available at the Hyde School from 8am -2pm and from 6pm to 8pm.

 

• The Woodstock Academy is offering showers from 6am to 9am and from 4pm to 8pm.

 

• People wishing to register to vote on Thursday, should see the registrars from 9 am to 8 pm, on the lower level.