MONROE, Conn. — A severe thunderstorm on Independence Day caused extensive damage and road closures throughout the region, as high winds knocked out power and ripped down trees. Monroe’s police officers, firefighters and DPW crews were flooded with emergency calls over the holiday weekend.
“We got hit just like everybody else in the region,” Police Chief Keith White said Monday. “Over 20 roads were closed at one point with downed trees and or wires. We topped out with over 600 power outages.”
As of late Monday afternoon, he said Eversource restored power to all but 166 of its Monroe customers.
“Unfortunately the Fourth of July activities for many were cut short by the storm,” First Selectman Terry Rooney said. “I received immediate reports from our emergency management director, Police Chief Keith White, regarding our town’s condition.”
The first selectman also had conversations with Public Works Director Chris Nowacki, Monroe Fire Chief Kevin Catalano and the town’s liaison from Eversource.
“All agencies and personnel responded as rapidly as possible to the needs of the Monroe public,” Rooney said. “Some roads need to be cleared by Eversource personnel before tree removal and that work is still ongoing. This administration has been through far worse than this, however we dedicate our services and responsiveness with the same tenacity in every extreme weather situation.”
Just after 4 p.m., Chief White had left a meeting on the aftermath of the storm when he spoke to The Sun. He said town officials are now concerned over the heavy rain continuing into the night, which may cause flooding and more downed trees from the softened ground.
“We’re not sure how this heavy rain is going to affect Eversource’s response,” White said.
“It was spread pretty evenly throughout town. There were no large scale outages, it’s smaller pockets, so it takes longer for Eversource to restore power,” White said. “They have brought in additional crews from outside the state and they have been in town since the initial event.”
The chief said the majority of roads were open in Monroe, with the exception of a section of Turkey Roost Road, which was still blocked off by a tree that fell Monday morning.
White said police maintained normal staffing over the holiday weekend, though he did bring in an extra dispatcher to handle the call volume on Saturday.
This weekend was also a busy time for the town’s three fire companies of Monroe, Stepney and Stevenson.
“When the iPhone alerts came through stating potential 80 mph winds, we called in all available firefighters to staff their fire stations,” Catalano said. “Certain areas of town, including lower Fan Hill Road and upper Wheeler Road seemed to be hit with more intense wind, which led to more calls for trees down and wires arcing.”
“At one point it was difficult for our trucks to get down certain roads, but public works came out quickly to help clear roads,” Catalano said. “We opened our fire command center at Monroe Fire Headquarters, but call volume was not too significant given the high winds passed through fairly quickly.”
“We are fortunate no one was injured by falling trees,” he said. “Some calls continued on Sunday, including a carbon monoxide incident due to running a gas powered generator, which is always a hazard to be mindful of during a power outage.”
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