THOUSANDS CUT OFF FROM GETTING HOME AFTER AN AFTERNOON THUNDER STORM LEAVES THE AREA IMPASSIBLE ... HERE'S MY QUESTION WHY WOULD YOU BURY A CRITICAL LINK OF YOUR EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM DEEP INTO THE FOREST ON A NARROW DIRT ROAD DEPENDENT UPON WIRES CONNECTED TO TELEPHONE POLES?
Authorities in Danbury, Ridgefield, New Fairfield, Brookfield, New Milford and Southbury reported dozens of road closures after a line of thunderstorms struck the area yesterday, toppling trees and downing wires, and left thousands without power.
The storms hit during the late-afternoon rush hour, instantly turning day into night and felling trees and power lines, which blocked numerous area roadways.
School officials in Brookfield, New Milford, Newtown, New Fairfield and Sherman have announced that schools will be closed today.
Connecticut Light and Power Co. reported more than 60,000 households without power statewide at 5 a.m., including about 39 percent of homes in Bridgewater.
At 6:35 a.m., CL&P reported more than 1,300 homes in Danbury were still without power, and about 1,350 in Newtown, 4,580 in Brookfield, 2,670 in New Milford, 3,275 in Southbury and 1,260 in New Fairfield.
"We are working as quickly and safely as possible,'' CL&P spokeswoman Katie Flint said on Thursday. "But we know this will be a multi-day restoration effort. The damage was violent and widespread.'' -- AN EXAMPLE OF A SPRING/SUMMER/FALL EMERGENCY
Flint said CL&P is asking for out-of-state crews to help in the work.
According to fire officials in Danbury, there are about a dozen roads, mostly on the north end of town, that are closed due to storm-related damage or debris.
Several sections of New Fairfield were hit hard, with roads near the Sherman border with Wanzer Mountain are largely inaccessible due to downed trees. The storm also brought down many trees at the Candlewood Hills community near Squantz Pond.
New Fairfield First Selectman John Hodge said Thursday that 20 to 30 trees in town were down. HOW MANY TREES DOES IT TAKE TO CRITICALLY INCAPACITE A MICROWAVE TOWER BURIED A HALF-MILE IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOREST THAT DEPENDS UPON WIRES CONNECTED TO TELEPHONE POLES TO A COUNTRY ROAD? QUICK ANSWER: 1
"I told the public works guys to come in with their chain saws,'' Hodge said. "They're going to be working all night.'' -- What a guy!
Route 25 in Brookfield is closed from Long Meadow Hill Road to Oak Grove Road, officials said. Federal Road is closed near the First Assembly of God Church. Long Meadow Road is also shut down from the New Milford town line to Brookfield High School.
Meanwhile, Route 133 is closed from North Obtuse Road to the Bridgewater Bridge. The section of Silvermine Road near the town police station is currently closed.
A "possible tornado" showed up on the Weather Center radar over the southern end of town of New Milford, Bill Jacquemin, chief meteorologist at the Connecticut Weather Center in Danbury, said Thursday.
"It's a very explosive situation," he said. "There were wind gusts of over 40 miles per hour at the Weather Center. For not even being the worst part of the storm, that's pretty impressive." -- a typical hurricane has much higher sustained winds along with soaking rain.
At least two eyewitness reports on Twitter described possible funnel-cloud sightings in Newtown.
In Ridgefield, Regan Road remains closed, between Ridgebury Road and Mopus Ridge Road, officials said.
On Stadley Rough Road in Danbury, Katie Quinn huddled yesterday in the lower floor of her home with family and friends as the storm hit.
"It was crazy," Quinn said. "The sky was, like, green, and it was very windy." -- Toto we're not in Kansas we're in New England!
The storm took down a large tree, completely blocking Stadley Rough Road and bringing down a power line transformer.
In Brookfield, a downed tree blocked Federal Road north of the Costco market, taking power lines down with it.
Suzanne McDonald and John Anderson were at Creative Bath on Federal Road when the storm hit.
Heavy winds came and then hail "like peas, then like cherries,'' McDonald said. -- Toto it was raining Fruit Loops!
"No wonder we couldn't get our computers up and running," she said after hearing about the downed tree. -- Electricity has a compelling effect on things electronic!
Next door at the Eurolux Salon and Day Spa, staff fretted about something else.
"Our main worry was to get the power back on so we could wash everyone's hair," said Laura Briganti. With power on, she said, every appointment was saved.
Thwarted by closed roads several times while trying to get from Bethel to the Four Corners in Brookfield, Chris Martoni, of Brookfield, made the best of the situation and stopped to eat at La Familia Pizza & Pasta on Federal Road.
In New Milford, police and firefighters were attempting to reach a home on Sherry Lane where a tree had crashed into a house and car as the family reportedly huddled in a basement.
At the same time, emergency crews were responding to numerous reports of trees and wires down on Route 7, with at least one lane closed near New Milford High School.
But as soon as the storm ended, people emerged, cell phone cameras in hand.
Alexandra Edwards was on Stadley Rough Road in Danbury, taking pictures of the downed tree. -- Its not nice to fool Mother Nature.
"This is fabulous,'' she said. "I'm definitely going to put this on Facebook." -- I've almost got a life ... can't wait to see my friends on Facebook!
Read more: http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Nearly-16-000-in-Greater-Danbury-still-without-1417562.php#ixzz1OxvGVirI
