Cold Blast Expected While Power Outages Remain In Connecticut

Article and photos by Jacqueline Bennett

Accuweather.com reports a cold blast is expected to hit Connecticut, the rest of New England and neighboring Canada today while more than 300,000 power customers in the Nutmeg state remain without heat and electricity following a late October snowstorm.

Connecticut Govenor Dannel Malloy pulled no pushes yesterday when he said during a news conference he “wouldn’t want to be in (Connecticut Light & Power’s) shoes” if the utility fails to make good on a promise from their president to have 99 percent of customers restored by midnight Sunday.

Tensions have been mounting among officials in towns particularly hard hit with the threat of lawsuits being bantered about as their residents remain in the dark and cold days after the October 29 storm that resulted in widespread downed electrical wires and tree limbs. Malloy has deployed the Connecticut National Guard to assist with debris clean-up while power company linesmen try to do a yeomen’s job under increasingly antagonistic circumstances.

At least 108 of the state’s 169 towns opened emergency shelters or warming locations. Many businesses were without power too – including banks, grocery stores and gas stations. As residents began to venture out on Monday availability of such necessities was few and far between leaving patrons to wait in gas lines for hours, some running out of gas on route to the pumps. For many districts schools are still closed and now the challenge will be how to make up the lost time knowing more snow days may be ahead with winter yet to have officially arrived.