Farmington Outages Fluctuating but Definitely Down

Outages dropped dramatically throughout the state and in town and Farmington lost the state's top spot Saturday evening with 44 percent of customers without power at 10:30 p.m. The numbers dipped earlier in the day before Unionville blacked out, then was restored for the second night in row after coming on early Friday morning.

The progress was made by more than 40 line crews, mostly from out of state. With them, the Connecticut National Guard continued to cut up trees. Town of Farmington crews and contractors were also at work clearing trees and debris from roads.

The fluctuation of gaining and losing power is to be expected while crews work to bring other streets back onto the grid.

“Residents should be aware that if power is restored it may be brought down for up to five hours to energize the next section of the circuit. This is a normal occurrence while power restoration moves forward,” according to a press release from the Town of Farmington Saturday night.

CL&P is holding to its self-imposed deadline for bringing power back to 99 percent of customers by Sunday night but Farmington schools are staying on the safe side and waiting until this afternoon to make a decision on Monday.

Superintendent Kathleen Greider sent a notice to parents Friday saying that the district would notify parents by 2 p.m. whether school will be held. If school does resume, then Election Day on Tuesday will be used to make up one of the six snow days the district has already had. Veteran’s Day on Friday will be the same. That will reduce the number of makeup days to four that would be tacked on in June, with school ending on June 18.

CL&P is now operating on a restoration plan for the Farmington Valley worked out in cooperation with neighboring towns that demanded the utility company provide more manpower and more results. CL&P and the towns set specific goals for restoration and has held morning and nightly meetings to check their success.

In the meantime, more than 2,000 residents have taken refuge at the town's emergency shelter at Farmington High School, including a numerous elderly and those requiring oxygen tanks, medical machines and 24-hour care.

Volunteers have prepared more than 1,000 meals a day for the 500 or so residents staying at the shelter each night and those who come to warm up during the day.

Some residents reported getting power back Saturday on the Farmington Patch Facebook page, including on New Britain Avenue, Plainville Avenue and Webster Street, Farmington Avenue near Mountain Spring Road, Roma, Bella Lane, Mountain Road, River Road and parts of Garden Street.

Unionville center and Farmington Avenue from Depot Place to Highwood and including the high school were restored Friday.

Farmington officials were hopeful that power would be dramatically restored Saturday and Sunday leading up to the midnight deadline.

For information updates from the Town of Farmington, call 860-675-2300 or sign up for Everbridge, the Town's emergency notification system at farmington-ct.org. With Everbridge, residents can sign up for alerts about a variety of subjects from emergencies to recreation. Alerts can be received via email, text or phone.