[Updated 8:20 p.m. Sunday] Halloween Nightmare: Thousands Still Without Power

Update 8:20 p.m. Sunday

About 20 people are at what Granby officials are calling "the warming center" at the Granby Senior Center, according to town officials. The town is still 100 percent without power.

Food, water, heat and electricity are available at the warming center as well as cots if they need a place to stay, according to Sgt. Gary Charette of the Granby Police Department. People planning to stay overnight should bring blankets and other bedding, Charette said.

The major roads in town - Routes 10, 202, 189 and 20 - are all now 'passable' according to Charette, though people should still refrain from driving as most
of the roads have been reduced to one lane and still have downed power
lines. Charette said that increased traffic also hinders department of
public works crews from clearing the road of fallen trees and debris.

Crews have finally called it a night, Charette said, and will be back
working tomorrow at 5 a.m. He said town officials are urging people to stay where they are unless they absolutely must seek alternative shelter or supplies.

In addition to clogged roads and fallen power lines, there is a shortage of available fuel, as most gas stations do not have power to operate pumps, charette said.

"The fuel situation is dire," Charette said. "The few places that have opened
have run out of fuel very quickly."

As for getting electricity back, Charette said that the town saw its first Connecticut Light & Power crew today, though they spent just an hour and a half here.

"It's a long-term situation," charette said. "In the interim, people need to
use their own resources (for as long as they can). Right now everyone
needs to ration what they have. You can't just go to
the store and get a gallon of milk."

Schools have been closed in Granby for both Monday and Tuesday. North Granby, according to East Granby residents Karin and Guenter Schuett "looks like a war zone, like bombs had dropped."

"We drove up 189...and it was unbelievable. Every 300 to 400 yards the road was covered and turned into one lane," Guenter Schuett said.

Update 5:10 p.m. Sunday

Downtown East Granby more resembles a ghost town than a quaint village as the community remains 100 percent in the dark, according to Connecticut Light & Power outage reports.

Skip Colton, emergency operations director in East Granby, said Public Works Department employees are currently responding to 15 known locations where trees or power lines have completely closed roads, but said there could be a lot more problems not yet reported.

"This is probably just the tip of the iceberg," Colton said.

An emergency shelter remains open at where about 15 residents have taken advantage of services so far. Other residents who have elected to stay home are asked to remain inside and off the roads and temperatures begin to drop again.

The center opened at 7 p.m. Saturday.

First Selectman James Hayden anticipates over 20 people staying Sunday evening. He advises that people coming bring a sleeping bag and pillow due to limited space as temperatures dip into the mid 20s.

The senior center has water, orange juice, and meals-ready-to-eat. People can pick up those items if they don't want to stay.

In the event that the senior center fills up, town hall would then be used as auxiliary space, Hayden said. The town department of public works crews have done their part with regard to clearing roads and it is now up to CL&P to reconnect the town to power lines.

Officials are still uncertain how long restoration efforts will take, but urge residents to be prepared for power to be out "for at least a week."

Hayden said while it could be up to a week, a crew has been assigned to town working on turning back trees from powerlines. Public safety officials have conducted wellness checks in the town's senior communities.

Update 11 a.m. Sunday

The latest figures from CL&P show no movement in outages and it is likely going to be a long slog ahead as the power company deals with more than 780,000 customers without power statewide.

The Granbys both remain at 100 percent of customers without power, with no indicated restoration time. 

Saturday's story

Heavy, wet snow accumulated quickly Saturday afternoon into the evening in Granby and East Granby, causing falling branches and trees to knock down power lines, leaving thousands in the community to lose electricity and shutting down all of the town’s major traffic arteries.

According to Connecticut Light & Power, 100 percent of Granby and 100 percent of East Granby, or 7,302 customers, are now without electricity.

Granby officials opened an Emergency Operations Center at the police department and a shelter at Town Hall at 8 p.m., though the message to residents is to remain where they are if they don't need to move.

Granby police are reporting multiple accidents in town as people try to negotiate roads with downed trees and power lines; police are reporting the closure of all of the town’s major thoroughfares, including Route 20 west, Route 10 north and 189 north.

“Things are pretty much a mess,” said Granby Sgt. Gary Charette, adding that additional closings on less-trafficked roads in town ran “three pages long.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it in 25 years,” Charette said.

As of 10 p.m., Charette said that there were seven or eight people at the town shelter, with another three waiting to be picked up. Several people with supplemental oxygen devices have been or are in the process of being moved to Town Hall, which, along with the police department, is also without power, but is operating on a backup generator, according to Charette.

What’s made the task so difficult for emergency personnel is that fallen trees and power lines have made it nearly impossible for the town’s plows to clear the streets.

Charette said that the department of public works, ambulance, fire and police personnel were all coordinating at the EOC to respond to the situation.

“We’re encouraging people to stay in their houses and not attempt to remove downed trees or wires,” said Charette, noting that they should contact CL&P in those situations. “If there is any other type of emergency, residents should dial 911 as soon as they can.”

Attempts to reach emergency personnel in East Granby have proven unsuccessful.

Statewide, CL&P is now reporting over 634,000 statewide are without power, representing over 51 percent of their customer base, according to the CL&P outage maps.

Gov. Dannel Malloy has in Connecticut as conditions worsen. Six inches or more is expected by the time the storm leaves the area during the early morning hours on Sunday, according to reports from the National Weather Service.

Mitch Gross, spokesman for CL&P, said the company has opened an emergency operations center.

"CL&P will be assessing storm damage as soon as it is safe to do so.  An estimate as to when power will be restored will be available once the assessment is complete. We appreciate our customers patience," he said.

In the meantime, CL&P is reminding customers to:

• Stay away from all downed wires. Assume any downed, hanging or burning power lines are live and dangerous and call 911 immediately.  If a power line falls on your vehicle while you’re inside, stay there.  Don’t touch anything outside the vehicle and wait for emergency crews.
• Report your power outage by calling CL&P at 800-286-2000.  Our automated phone system rapidly processes your report and helps us speed restoration efforts.  It also provides restoration estimates as soon as they’re available.
• Before operating a generator, make sure it has been properly installed by a licensed electrician.  Improperly installed generators can feed electricity back into power lines and pose a deadly situation for our line workers.  Always operate generators outdoors to avoid carbon monoxide hazards.
• If you lose power, turn off your circuit breakers.  This will help reduce the possibility of damage to sensitive electronic equipment once power is restored.

State police have said the snow is causing problems on roads, with I-84 West closed for over an hour Saturday just before Exit 28 because of a downed tree and other state roads outside town closed entirely. The highway has reopened, state Department of Transportation officials said, but traffic remains slow going.

As more information becomes available, we will keep you posted on The Granbys Patch, so be sure to check back in.