In Greenwich over 600 customers woke up to no power on Christmas morning.
As of Saturday, 141 Eversource customers in Greenwich remained without power, and by 10:00am the thermometer had just crept up to 23°. The National Weather Service forecast a high Saturday of just 32°.
The utility said hundreds of line and tree crews got to work on Christmas to restore power following the intense rain and windstorm that left thousands of Connecticut customers without power on Christmas.
As of 3:00pm on Christmas, crews had restored power to more than 44,000 customers since the storm began.
Customers without power are encouraged to check on their estimated time of restoration (ETR) by checking the company’s outage map at Eversource.com. Those who’ve signed up for two-way texting can text “stat” to 23129 or calling Eversource at 800-286-2000.
“We know the timing of this storm couldn’t have been worse as people are trying to celebrate the Christmas holiday,” said Eversource Chairman, President and CEO Jim Judge. “The damaging winds and heavy rains with this storm caused damage to the electric system and caused widespread power outages in 117 of the 149 towns we serve. We’re bringing in crews from our New Hampshire and Massachusetts teams to help with the restoration in Connecticut. Our employees – many of whom sacrificed their holiday – are committed to working around-the-clock until all of our customers affected by this storm have their power back. I want to thank the extraordinary efforts of our lineworkers and team members who are out in the weather today, away from their families on Christmas.”
They said many of the outages in hard hit western Connecticut are more complex than outages in central and eastern portions of the state, and will take additional time to complete. The said the vast majority of customers in communities in western CT will have power restored by Saturday at midnight, with most being restored before that.
The lobby of Greenwich’s public safety complex is open 24/7 as a warming center, and there is wifi.
On Christmas, the morning of heavy rain expedited snow melt and lead to flooding concerns.
Eversource said flooding can cause damage to a home furnace or other natural gas appliances and some natural gas heating systems may be affected in the event of a power interruption.
If flooding is severe, natural gas appliances should not be used until inspected by a licensed plumber or contractor. Once that is completed, Eversource can turn gas service back on and safely relight appliances.