In his August 9 CodeRED message to residents, Newtown First Selectman Dan Rosenthal offered an update on roads and power restoration efforts and praised the work that continues to be done by Department of Public Works employees. Also this morning: if they haven’t already done so, residents should begin thinking about food disposal; and Newtown Parks & Rec is offering a glimmer of hope for live music lovers.

Slow progress was made on Sunday, Rosenthal said in his recorded message to residents, “with total outages down to 40 percent from 45 yesterday, and blocked roads are down to 19 from 32 yesterday.”

Department of Public Works employees continue to work with Eversource Make Safe crews, he said, to open those roads.

“Our DPW employees have been working until late in the evening every day since the storm and I appreciate their efforts on behalf of those who lost power,” he said.

While more residents were back online by Sunday evening, Rosenthal was still not happy. His tone terse, the town’s top leader said it was obvious to him, “as it is to all of you, for Eversource to meet its goal of substantial restoration by noon on Tuesday” — referencing the promise made by the utility to Newtown late Saturday afternoon — “we need more crews and we need them now.”

His voice clipped, Rosenthal said he has been in touch daily with Governor Ned Lamont concerning the lack of progress being made to bring every resident back online.

“This is not a convenience issued,” he said, “it is a life safety issue.”

Sunday evening, Eversource said via e-mail that it had 2,500 crews working on damage repair across the state. As of late Sunday afternoon, “90 percent of Eversource customers now have power,” the note continued.

Monday morning, according to the utility’s website, 6.91 percent of the state was still without power. While down to single digits percentage-wise, that still means 88,499 customers across the state were still without electricity as of 10:06 am, Monday, August 10. The utility claims 1.2 million Connecticut customers.

The utility’s website shows that Danbury is at the top of the list in terms of the number of people (6,147, or 16.45 percent of the city) without power Monday morning. Newtown was second, with 4,550 people — or 39.70 percent of the town’s Eversource customers — still without power.

One of those customers is Howard Lasher, who lives in the Dodgingtown area of town.

Lasher said Monday morning he had not seen a single Eversource truck, nor anything that resembled one of the thousands of contracted line crews the utility has reportedly brought into the state. Lasher was angry and frustrated, he said.

“Eversource should hide their head in shame,” he said.

Nearby resident Kristen Bulkley shared some photos with The Newtown Bee on Monday morning, when she said four major wires were still down and several trees were across Poor House Road.

“We are so angry and scared as temps reach 95 today that our power is still out, we wanted someone to know,” she said via e-mail. One tree is still “actually lying in the street, and no end in sight!

“Not one crew has been by! Several elderly on these streets that have no other outlet!” she added.

Sandy Hook resident Ian McDermott also contacted the newspaper over the weekend. McDermott had taken photos of a location on Jeremiah Road where, Friday afternoon, large broken branches still covered the majority of the roadway. One lone cone was in the center of one travel lane, and a hand-painted sign placed against one of the trees read “The New Normal.”

The sign, he said, “perfectly summed up the mood of the last four days and the lackluster performance of Eversource,” he said.

McDermott was grateful for one person’s sense of humor, however.

Of the sign, he added, “Thank you to whomever gave voice to our frustration.”

‘When In Doubt, Throw It Out’: Food Disposal Time

By Monday, Newtown Health District Food Service Inspector Suzette LeBlanc said anyone still holding food in an unpowered refrigerator or freezer should be disposing of all contents.

She said the general rule about keeping food as safe as possible revolves around maintaining its temperature — not necessarily how long that food is held cold.

“Any food must be held cold at no more than 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius) or kept frozen,” LeBlanc told The Newtown Bee. “Once food goes above 41 degrees you have about four hours to prepare and eat it — or to cook it and put it on ice to bring down and maintain its constant temp below 41 degrees.”

Otherwise, residents should have transferred any food that may have been refrigerated or frozen when their power went out to alternate refrigerators and freezers within four hours of losing power.

“Frozen foods can be safe to consume for days as long as they have been thawed and kept at or below 41 degrees,” LeBlanc added. “Just remember the longer you keep frozen food thawed in the fridge, the quality suffers.

“People should use general storage guidelines once frozen food is thawed in the refrigerator. For example, a steak that was frozen will be consumable after being held in the fridge for a lot longer than frozen cold cuts thawed and held at 41 degrees or less in the fridge,” she said.

Newtown’s local food safety expert also warns residents to not rely on the “smell test.”

“A lot of bacteria won’t produce a bad smell,” she said, and you should never taste test food to determine if it may be spoiled. Ultimately, LeBlanc urges people to fall back on the adage, “When in doubt, throw it out.”

Regarding possible compensation for food losses, an August 6 write-up on the subject at insurance.com says spoiled food coverage for power outage losses varies by insurer and policies. Just remember:

*Losses may not be covered if the outage is widespread and did not originate on a homeowner/renter’s property. Consult specific policy language to clarify.

*Food loss coverage that is included with a homeowner’s/renter’s policy is typically limited to $250 or $500 per occurrence.

*General deductibles apply — so if the policy has a $500 deductible and a policy holder files for a $500 food loss, there would be no reimbursement.

*Filing more than one homeowner’s insurance claim within ten years can cause premiums to increase, even if it involves relatively small food loss claims.

*Multiple claims in a short period can result in an insurer canceling the policy.

American Family Insurance additionally offers a reminder that sometimes utility and power companies reimburse the cost of food if they were at fault for the power outage. If that is the case, it may be beneficial to reach out to see if reimbursement is a possibility.

Three locations have been set up in town for residents to drop off spoiled food. Dumpsters have been placed at Botsford fire station, 315 South Main Street; Dodgingtown fire station, 55 Dodgingtown Road (Route 302); and Sandy Hook Fire & Rescue’s main station, 18-20 Riverside Road.

Additional Resources For Residents

Additional resources have been put into place for residents who need potable water, showers, charging stations, and more. Click here for the full list.

Parks & Rec Updates

Monday morning, Newtown Parks & Recreation offered updates on park access and its Summer Concert Series.

Treadwell Pool remains without power, so it is still closed.

Eichler’s Cove Marina and Beach are open. The beach is operating today without a reservation system.

Time slots are on a first come, first served basis, as follows: 9-11 am, 11:15 am-1:15 pm, 1:30-3:30 pm, 3:45-5:45 pm, and 6-7 pm.

Due to COVID-19, the beach has clearly marked locations for guests to use this season. Those boxes — a designated area on the beach, outlined with yellow caution tape and identified by a numbered flag — are usually reserved in advance for a two-hour time frame; today, they will be made available to residents with Parks & Rec membership tags on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no back-to-back use of the boxes. Residents must vacate their location at the end of each two-hour window.

With the online reservation system currently inoperable, residents must have their Parks & Rec membership tag with them to claim a spot on the beach.

The Summer Concert Series will resume this week, weather permitting, of course. Performances are Thursday evenings at Dickinson Park, beginning at 6:30 pm.

Outlined seating areas have been set up, and guests need to provide their own seating.

Survivors Swing Band, postponed from July 23 due to bad weather that evening, has been rescheduled for this Thursday. Cold Duck Time, who had been scheduled for last Thursday, has been rescheduled for August 20.

Updates will be posted on this website as well as The Newtown Bee Facebook page and Twitter feed when needed.