Community Corner

CL&P Officials: 550 Restoration Crews Should Be Working By End of Day

Connecticut Light & Power officials said the damage from this weekend's storm was five times worse than Irene.

Statewide, 201 line and 181 tree crews are working on repairs Monday, Connecticut Light & Power president Jeff Butler said during a morning press conference Gov. Dannel P. Malloy held. An additional 92 line and 100 tree crews are expected later, he said.

"By the end of the day, we expect 550 crews," Butler said.

Additional transmission crews also are expected to be working across the state – mainly in the northwest and central parts. Officials said there were 18 transmission lines that have been damaged.

Find out what's happening in Ellington-Somerswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

CL&P also has begun assigning a liasion to towns, which have requested them, and providing information on where crews will be working – one of the lessons learned from Tropical Storm Irene, Butler said.

"We are reporting information as we receive it to our customers and towns," he said.

Find out what's happening in Ellington-Somerswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Officials said they believe the damage from this storm is five times that of Irene, particularly to transmission lines, which are considered crucial to the electrical infrastructure.

"Unlike Irene we have transmission problems," Malloy said. "This has been an unbelievable storm causing unbelievable damage."

The governor also warned of carbon monoxide poisoning, which can occur for a number of reasons – such as bringing propane or cooking grills inside or improper use of generators. No deaths have occurred but carbon monoxide-related medical calls have been reported.

Malloy said those concerns are one of the reasons he is urging towns to make warming centers and shelters available to residents to deter them from creating dangerous conditions inside their homes.

"Carbon monoxide may be our biggest enemy at the moment," he said.

In Ellington and Somers, as of noon approximately 96 percent and 100 percent of customers, respectively, were still without power, according to CL&P. To monintor the restoration efforts and to track the outages check out the power company's Web site.


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