No Power, No School, Plenty of Damage

Update 9 a.m.: Farmington power outages are up! To 98% with 11,952 customers in the dark.

In the wake of a freak October snowstorm, 96 percent of the town is waking up without power and kids are waking up to no school.

Along with Farmington schools, town offices, EXCL and Tunxis Community College are closed, too.

Also closed are numerous roads around town, where branches and trees that are tangled in the road with downed power lines. While Farmington highway department employees worked all day to clear snow and trees off the roads, they’re not able to clear away debris that is involved with live wires. That’s something CL&P crews have to do and there’s no word on when that could happen.

According to Farmington police dispatch, Route 4 is mostly clear though downed wires remain throughout town. A transformer smashed at the Unionville end of West Avon Road is keeping traffic from getting through. Residents are advised to use care and avoid driving, if possible.

To keep warm, more than 250 people took refuge at the town’s emergency shelter at Farmington High School. The shelter will provide food, water, showers and cots to anyone who needs them for as long as necessary. Many people also went to charge their cell phones for a while.

Monday morning 97 percent of Farmington residents were still without power – a number that increased slightly overnight. State numbers look similar with 772,735 customers without power Sunday night, down from 831,000 at the height of the storm. Officials reported 300 CL&P crews were on the ground Sunday and 450 are coming from across the country to start work Tuesday.

In a news conference Sunday afternoon, CL&P President Jeffrey Butler said with tree damage five times worse than what the state saw during Tropical Storm Irene, most residents should be prepared to be without power for at least a week.

Without electricity, residents struggled to find gasoline to power generators. Since local gas stations weren’t selling any, the search extended to West Hartford and Southington, which had lengthy lines and dwindling supplies.

Cell phone service was also spotty. Gov. Malloy reported that AT&T had 164 cell sites down and Verizon service was limited. An additional 70,000 Comcast customers were without cable, phone and internet service.

The Town of Farmington kept residents updated throughout the day with information sent through the Everbridge emergency system and posted on Patch.