MONROE, CT — A winter storm caused massive power outages through the town Sunday and, though Eversource crews restored power to all but 611 customers by Monday morning, emergency services officials say the high winds are supposed to continue today into Tuesday.
First Selectman Terry Rooney called it an unexpected event.
“The amount of freezing rain and branches, this wasn’t expected at all, kind of like the flood damage it came as a surprise,” he said, alluding to the flash floods that hit the town last summer. “But we were ready for it. DPW was armed and ready, the police department did what they had to do and the fire department … we really couldn’t ask for a better response.”
“We had significant melting from yesterday that has refroze, so people should be aware of ice and debris in the roadway,” Police Chief Keith White said Monday.
The main phone number for the Monroe Police Department — 261-3622 — has not been rolling over calls, so White said residents should call the secondary number, 203-261-3623, and 911 for emergencies.
White also encourages homeowners to call Eversource directly to report any new power outages.
Monroe Fire Chief Kevin Catalano said people should be alert and careful about tree branches hanging over the roadway, while driving or walking their dog.
Catalano said those using generators should ensure it is not set up too close to their homes, because of the carbon monoxide, and he reminds residents lighting candles not to leave the rooms unattended.
Late Monday morning, Eversource crews were still working on Elm Street in the area of East and West Maiden Lanes, where wires and trees were down, according to White.
“Eversource is in town. We have evaluation and line crews here,” he said. “They told me they will continue to work until the job is done.”
Rooney thanked those who lost power for their patience, while work is being done, adding he knows it’s an inconvenience.
“We’re all in this together,” he said. “It takes consistent, steady work to get it over the finish line. I haven’t backed off that task. We’re still on it right now. We’re pushing for more Eversource crews to come, but with the high winds it’s hard to work on detention lines. Hopefully throughout the day more people will see power.”
While taking precautions, the first selectman praised Eversource for working on power lines amid windy conditions.
“The nice thing is the ice is off the trees,” Rooney said.
Calls around the clock
Sunday’s storm began with snow overnight into the morning, which later turned to rain, before the winds came. Though over 40 percent of Eversource customers lost power at one point, Catalano said conditions could have been even worse.
“We’re fortunate ice melted off the trees within two hours of the winds,” he said Monday. “If it started with ice on the limbs, we would have had a lot more trees down and power outages.”
White said no major accidents were reported, but multiple debris in the road caused partial or full closures when wires were involved.
“Some have resulted in actual ground fires with the wires coming down,” White said. “It’s been a few years since we’ve had a storm like this, with the trees iced over.”
“We activated our storm protocol in advance,” Catalano said. “We had a group of firefighters who slept at the firehouse Saturday into Sunday. Ice on tree limbs formed by early morning.”
The fire chief said calls started coming at between 6 and 7 a.m. Sunday. “We started getting busy, a lot of calls for wires and branches down,” he said.
Among the calls, residents asked for checks of electrical issues in their homes and CO and fire alarms went off in some houses that lost power. Catalano said the Monroe Volunteer Fire Department received 36 calls to its Shelton Road station.
“Our district seemed to get the brunt of it,” he said. “Most of the damage was to the central part of town. Trumbull, Shelton, Newtown, Oxford — all those departments very busy.”
The town is also covered by the Stepney and Stevenson volunteer fire companies.
Monroe firefighters posted a photo of a power line fire on Moose Hill Road, near Cross Hill Road, on their Facebook page. “You could hear the buzzing sound from the primary about two miles away,” Catalano said. “That was the most eye catching.”
Other calls included a number of downed wires, including wires ripped away from people’s houses after being struck by falling limbs, and downed cable lines, which are not energized.
Catalano said calls finally slowed down around 3 p.m. before a few more calls came in Sunday night. “It’s starting up again today,” he said, mentioning the arching and downed power lines on Elm Street and a homeowner using a generator who reported elevated CO readings.
“I want to thank our volunteer firefighters,” Catalano said, calling Sunday one of the busiest days in their history. “Some stayed overnight and through the day when we were handling multiples calls at once.”
“DPW was cutting trees to the extent there were no wires in them, and we were in touch with Terry Rooney throughout the storm. He was kind enough to bring us lunch to keep us going,” Catalano said of pizzas the first selectman bought to the station.
High impact
White said Hartford, Litchfield and New Haven counties were not hit bad by the storm, which mostly affected Monroe, Newtown and Redding up to New Milford.
“Monroe has been impacted more than other communities in the state,” Rooney said.
In addition to getting updates from Eversource representatives, the first selectman said he drove around town for hours Sunday, while speaking to six linemen in two different crews to learn what they were seeing.
Rooney said they told him they would fix a damaged power lines to restore electricity to one area, only for the wind to cause more damage down the line, knocking out power again.
The first selectman said work is continuing Monday, adding he and White are in constant communication, giving each other updates. “If one person is without power, it’s still a problem in my opinion,” Rooney said.
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We are near the border with Shelton and were without power for 26 hours. But it was better than the old days when we were out for multiple days. Our trusty standby generator came thru with flying colors. Our thanks to all the crews AND all of the town of Monroe teams for their support during the outage and getting us back up. And maybe we need to get the tree trimmers out over the Summer.