Update 6 p.m. Wednesday
As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, 87.8% of New Canaan homes are without power, Eversource said—nearly 8,500 customers.
First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said in a town-wide outcall Wednesday evening, “Due to a transformer failure on Main Street this afternoon, some restaurants are closed on Elm and Main, but several restaurants remain open downtown.”
Original Article
Power restoration in New Canaan in the aftermath of a tropical storm had not started as of 10 a.m. Wednesday, the town’s highest elected official said, and it could be several days before all local homes get it back.
Gerrish Lane in New Canaan on Aug. 4, 2020. Credit: Barbara Wilson
Residents can use Town Hall or New Canaan Library for free Internet access and phone-charging, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said in a town-wide outcall Wednesday morning.
“Due to downed trees and power lines many roads in New Canaan remain closed,” he said. “Avoid walking or driving near downed wires near your home or on town roads and please do not cross barriers.”
Annie and Kassie Jessen of New Canaan using free WiFi and charging stations outside New Canaan Library on Aug. 5, 2020. Courtney Galvan photo
As of 10 a.m., about 84% of New Canaan homes remained without power in the wake of a storm that took down dozens of trees, tree limbs and power lines throughout town. Many roads and portions off roads remain closed. (New Canaan’s fire marshal issued these safety tips for stand-by generator use.)
Downtown New Canaan has power, and businesses including Walter Stewart’s Market and Acme are re-opened, Moynihan said in the outcall.
Waveny Park on the evening of Aug. 4, 2020. Credit: Michael Mauro
Shortly after a storm with gusts exceeding 70 mph swept through the region, at about Eversource posted a bulletin saying it’s system for fielding outage reports had failed. The utility company said Wednesday morning that customers could call 800-286-2000 to report an outage, text ‘OUT’ to 23129, or report it at http://Eversource.com.
Moynihan said residents should call 9-1-1 with emergencies and could reach the New Canaan Emergency Operations Center at 203-594-4100 for other assistance.
I have yet to see even one crew working on lines in New Canaan. What is going on???
What happened to the use of the NC Emergency Management Facebook page? It used to be a very helpful way for residents share information and get updates between the calls.
Way to go amazing library team! What a dedicated team Of caring people I get to work with every day!
Trees across roads more than 36 hours after the storm, no line trucks to be seen and litle information for residents. Way to go Kevin!
In the mean time, the State of NJ had over 1million customers without power — the highest in the tri-state area and had half restored by Wednesday evening.
ConEd which serves NYC and Westchester had had their customers restored
by Thursday morning. Here I am in Town Hall along with dozens of my fellow New Canaanites, answering emails, reading local news, and recharging my laptop and other devices.
Eversource claimed that “They are Ready” but this is what happened to me:
on Tuesday afternoon when there were just 17 customers without power, I called 1-800-286-2000 and I went through an automated message and I replied “Power Outage” as instructed. I entered my home number as instructed, heard and irritating noise and was told they couldn’t find my number. I was transferred and the message was a hold for 20 minutes. Around the 18 minute mark, I was disconnected.
I tried dialed again and went through the same routine, but the wait time creeped up to 30 minutes. Next, I went on-line (I had 2 hours of a back-up battery) and I got into my Eversource account. When I tried to enter a message with home number, Eversource claimed that my number did not exist and that I didn’t have an account.
Clearly, Eversource was not ready—at least not as ready as PSE&G and ConEd.
For those of us who have wells there is the added problem of not being able to wash up. For previous storms the YMCA so kindly let affected residents use the showers – not an option now with co-vid precautions.
As we have not seen any Eversource vehicles -at all- I am guessing the “several days” estimation for power restoration will more likely be “at least a week”.
This is not 1/3 the damage of Sandy — power lines are up — lots of house lines are down
Soon after the storm public works were clearing the streets that had no power lines down
So if the powers is off why not clear the streets
Wonder what the down power line count is?
This is like the old Christmas tree lights one goes out they all go out
What a system!!!
Gee, should’ve kept Mike Handler on….
I went to the dump where there is a staging area for crews by the transformer area. Normally a hive of activity with out of state support, local support etc after a storm hits, all I saw was one truck from Melville NY and a bunch of empty power repair trucks parked in the back. Disheartening to say the least. After dumping my refrigerator contents, onward to town. Debris was cleared but didn’t see one crew fixing lines during the entire drive.
Hard to fathom how absolutely ineptly this has been handled! With no trucks around and seemingly nobody working at restoring power, it looks like it’s going to be well over a week before this even begins to improve.
Three days later and I still have seen no Eversource trucks or any technicians working on any lines on the east side of town. If you look at the Eversource report site (if you can find service), over the last 24 hours it looks like all we have done is add 40 residents without power. I understand some service may need to be cut off so repairs can be done down the line. But over 24 hours shouldn’t it at least be trending down? What the?
And 3 days later Eversource is still evaluating? How does “power should be restored in several days or it could take multiple days to restore power” help us? Multiple days can mean 2 or 20 days. That statement is worthless and unacceptable this many days after the storm. I think they have subsequently stated that “many” should have power back by Tuesday night (over a week after the storm). Again, what does “many” mean? I am hopeful that our representatives are vocal and demanding answers so we can have a better idea of whats going on.
I thought much of the increase in our rates was being used to be better prepared for storms and outages. Perhaps not…