Sunday, 28 August 2011 20:02
7 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 28 " The following is a statement from the New Canaan Office of Emergency Management.
First Selectman Jeb Walker and the emergency management team continue to monitor storm conditions. Hurricane Irene has been downgraded to tropical storm status and has moved into northern New England. Windy conditions are predicted to diminish throughout the evening.
Follow the Advertiser's Twitter updates of Hurricane Irene
For updates from the Office of Emergency Management's Facebook page, click here.
As of 7 p.m., First Selectman Jeb Walker has authorized the lifting of the curfew. However, residents are warned that there are numerous locations throughout town with power lines down on the ground. Town crews have attempted to mark these locations with barriers and/or caution tape, however not all may be known and may be unmarked. All wires must be considered live and must be given a wide berth.
Taking full advantage of the lull in the storm, Town crews have started clearing roads where power lines are not involved and CLP has crews beginning to assess the situation.
Some traffic lights are still without power and not enough temporary stop signs are available. These intersections must be treated as all-way stops.
Starting tomorrow morning (Monday) at 9 a.m., the YMCA will open to all residents for showers and charging of cell phones, etc. Also, the New Canaan Library will be open tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. and plans to have extended hours for the next few days. Please check the respective websites for further details.
Town Hall will be closed on Monday and public schools and Saint A's have canceled for Tuesday.
Due to the multiple road closures, the response of emergency services will be delayed to some areas of town.
Currently, CLP is reporting 77% of New Canaan to be without power and over 700,000 without power throughout the state.
If you have lost power, please contact Northeast Utilities to report the outage at 1-800-286-2000 or you can go on-line to www.cl-p.com.
For storm related, non-emergency questions, please call the Emergency Operations Center at 203-594-4100. This number should also be used for residents to report any structural damage to their homes. 911 should be used for emergency calls only.
The following is a list of safety tips to help get through the next few days:
Stay away from downed trees, as live power lines may be involved. Metal fences and guardrails may also become energized.
Avoid using candles if you lose power. If you must, never leave them unattended and keep them away from combustibles.
If you have a portable generator, make sure it is outside and if you are back-feeding your home through an outlet, make sure that you turn off the main breaker to avoid back-feeding the street, thereby endangering workers trying to restore power.
If the service wire on the side of your house been pulled off by downed branches/trees, it is the homeowner's responsibility to hire an electrician to make that repair. CLP will not reconnect until repairs are made.
It is expected that it will be several days before some roads are cleared and as long as a week before full power is fully restored. Residents are requested to check on neighbors.
Use the following sources for additional information:
Town website at www.newcanaan.info
Channel 79, the Town's cable access channel
WICC 600 am
WNLK 1350 am
On facebook at www.newcanaanoem.com
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