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Newtown, CT, USA
Newtown, CT, USA
Newtown, CT, USA
Newtown, CT, USA
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Long Windstorm Causes Power Outages And Road Closures

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Long Windstorm Causes Power Outages And Road Closures

By Andrew Gorosko

The long-duration high winds that blew through the area last weekend resulted in scattered electric outages in town, causing about 345 local customers of the Connecticut Light & Power Company (CL&P) to be without power during the height of the outages.

That number represents about three percent of CL&P’s approximately 10,800 electric customers in Newtown.

Statewide, approximately 18,000 of CL&P’s roughly 1.2 million electric customers were without electricity at the height of the storm, according to CL&P spokesman Mitch Gross.

The outages occurred when trees or parts of trees, which were weakened by the sustained high winds, fell across electric lines, causing those lines to fail, cutting electric service to customers in scattered areas.

CL&P started receiving reports of local electric outages between 5 and 6 pm on Saturday, May 8, Mr Gross said. The peak number of outages occurred about 8:30 pm, when 345 CL&P customers were without electricity, he said.

CL&P crews restored power to virtually all local customers by about 8:30 pm on Sunday, May 9, he said.

 Statewide, the peak of CL&P electric outages came at about 11 pm on Saturday, with most customers having their power restored by late Sunday night, Mr Gross said.

The windstorm which hit the town on May 8–9 did not cause as many power outages as did some recent windy storms.

On March 13, there were 825 customers who lost their electric service at the peak of outages. Last January 25, about 595 customers were without power at the peak outage period.

The weekend storm was not one of the bigger storms that have hit the area, Mr Gross said. What was notable was the length of time that the winds blew strongly, he said.

Such windy conditions pose electric service challenges for CL&P, which largely provides electric service to its customers via overhead electric lines that are suspended from utility poles, Mr Gross said.

Falling Branch

A May 8 motor vehicle incident in Dodgingtown, in which the driver escaped injury, illustrates the hazards posed by such windy weather.

Motorist Lawrence Gentile, 65, of Monroe was driving a 2010 Ford Mustang southward near 73 Dodgingtown Road (Route 302) at about 7 pm, when a large branch fell from a nearby tree and landed on the front end of his auto, police said. The branch then moved across the car’s roof and rolled off the rear end of vehicle.

The fallen branch damaged the Ford, but Gentile was uninjured, said police, who investigated the incident.

All local volunteer fire companies were busy last weekend, responding to more than 15 calls concerning trees or sections of tree falling down across roads and/or electric lines, thus creating public hazards during the period starting about 6 pm Saturday and continuing into early Sunday. Trees also fell down in areas that are well away from roads and electric lines.

Firefighters responded to “wires down” calls on streets including Boggs Hill Road, Taunton Hill Road, Butterfield Road, Taunton Lake Drive, Toddy Hill Road, Rowledge Pond Road, Shady Rest Boulevard, the area near the intersection of Washbrook Road and Meadow Brook Road, Oakview Road, Hi Barlow Road, Summit Road, the area near the intersection of Scudder Road and Cobblestone Lane, Mt Pleasant Road, West Street, Taunton Lane, and Sugar Street.

On Sunday, firefighters also responded to reports of wires down near the intersection of Poverty Hollow Road and Morris Road, and also near the intersection of Botsford Hill Road and Toddy Hill Road.

Police Patrol Sergeant Richard Robinson said that police responded to many situations in which trees or tree sections had fallen onto electric lines and/or onto streets. In such cases, police work with firefighters and/or town highway department staffers to secure the areas which pose hazards to public safety.

Between 5:37 pm on Saturday and 5:51 pm, on Sunday, police responded to 21 “public hazard” calls.

The sergeant said he knew of no injuries resulting from the high winds and fallen trees.

Fred Hurley, town director of public works, said that the high winds that caused trees and sections of trees fall, in some cases, temporarily closed sections of roads to traffic.

The public works department received 23 calls for service, most of which were received from the night of Saturday, May 8, into the morning of Sunday, May 9, he said.

Sections of roads that were temporarily closed to through-traffic due to fallen trees included: Taunton Hill Road, Taunton Lane, Butterfield Road, Boggs Hill Road, High Bridge Road, Botsford Hill Road, and Sugar Street (Route 302) in the area between its intersections with Key Rock Road and Rock Ridge Road.

Also, due to a tree having fallen down and some flooding in the area, the roadway near 50 Berkshire Road (Route 34) was temporarily closed to traffic on May 9.

Mr Hurley said that while the windstorm did not have especially high winds, the duration of the windiness caused many trees to fall during the storm.

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