Progress Made On Greenwich Cleanup Efforts After Nor'easter: PD

This story has been updated to include information from the Greenwich Police Department.

GREENWICH, CT — Roughly 2,900 Eversource customers in Greenwich do not have power as of 6:25 p.m. on Sunday, according to the utility company which continues to work on restoring the electricity knocked out by Friday's nor'easter.

Additionally, Greenwich town officials issued the following update on which roads remained closed and the town's clean up efforts:

Town crews have made major progress in their work to clear trees and limbs that closed 184 roads in Greenwich in the aftermath of the March 2 Nor’easter.

As of 4 p.m. Sunday, March 4, 2018, there are 45 roads that remain obstructed by trees, limbs and wires. Crews of Town employees and private contractors will continue the cleanup efforts this week. Many roads remain blocked by downed trees, poles and utility wires. Any downed wire should be considered a live wire and avoided.

(Please see the below list of Greenwich roads that remain closed or partially blocked by trees or limbs. This list is as of 1 p.m. Sunday, March 4, 2018.)

As of 5:15 p.m., there were 3,097 Greenwich Eversource customers without power. Eversource has estimated that a majority of those customers would have power restored by 9 p.m. Sunday, March 4, 2018.

"We continue to work with Eversource to coordinate full restoration of electricity to all residents as soon as possible," said First Selectman Peter J. Tesei.

During the height of the storm on Friday, March 2, the Greenwich Police Department responded to 450 calls for service between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m.

The Greenwich Fire Department responded to 184 incidents from 8 a.m. Friday, March 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 4. incident we responded to have not yet been completed. There were two major structure fires during this timeframe - on Bible Street and on John Street. Both were resource intensive requiring upwards of 15 units each. Access to the fire scenes and water supply to both were challenging due to road closures.

The Fire Department also responded to one fatal motor vehicle accident on the Merritt Parkway, which involved extrication resulting from a tree falling on a car.

All Greenwich Public Schools have electrical power. However, bus routes and major commuting routes may be impacted by the blocked roads. The decision on school schedules for Monday, March 5 will be announced by the Board of Education.

If residents are using generators to power their homes, they are reminded to be aware of carbon monoxide poisoning risks and to make sure they are operated outside the home.

For residents without power or heat, the Town will continue to offer warming and charging centers through the weekend.

Greenwich Library will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, March 5. The library’s sister branches – Byram Shubert and Cos Cob, also will be open for regular business hours.

The lobby of the Greenwich Public Safety Complex on Havemeyer Place is open daily – 24/7.

The Western Greenwich Bendheim Civic Center, 449 Pemberwick Road, is open daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. (The Eastern Greenwich (Old Greenwich) Civic Center is closed.)

Personnel from the Town’s emergency services, Parks & Recreation and Public Works departments will continue to monitor the situation throughout Town until all roads are reopened.

Below is the complete list of closed roads in Greenwich:

CENTRAL GREENWICH:

147 Woodside Dr
7 Oneida Dr

EAST:
15 Rick beth Ln
69 Hillcrest Park Rd

WEST:
Norias Rd (dead end)
Flower Ln (dead end)
28 Stonehedge Dr
10 Comly Ave (blocked at #10)
20 Blind Brook Rd
24 Fox Run Ln
29-55 Richmond Hill Rd (work in progress)
6 E James St
25 Bowman Dr
Porchuck Rd/Riversville Rd
47 Thunder Mountain Rd (not accessible to trucks)

MID COUNTRY:
Mackenzie Glen (dead end)
21 Cornelia Dr (dead end)
22 Dunwoodie Pl (dead end)
10 Round Hill Club Rd (dead end)

Grahamton/Clapboard Ridge Rd
200 Clapboard Ridge Rd
25 Rockwood Ln
25 Midwood Rd
77 Londonderry Dr (same incident as 17 Winterset Rd)
16 Horseshoe Rd
8 Windabout Dr
60 Patterson Ave
19 Pinecroft Rd
Cognewaugh Rd/Old Camp Rd
4 Cedarwood Dr

NORTH:
124-150 Cutler Rd (full closure- no exit)
Langhorne Ln (dead end)
1 Roger Dr (dead end)
74 Howard Rd
237 Bedford Rd
John St/Dwight Ln
16 John St
66-71 Perkins Rd
43 Stag Ln
1 Sterling Rd
N Porchuck Rd/Old Mill Rd
60 Cutler Rd (very low clearance)
Lower Cross Rd/North St (no trucks)
Riversville Rd/Richmond Hill Rd (no trucks)

Greenwich police also issued the following update just before 8 p.m. on Sunday:

The Town of Greenwich continues to work to mitigate the damage from the Nor’easter storm that
struck the area on Friday. Town crews are working with the Eversource power company to open roads
and restore electricity. Originally, there were over 180 road closures in Greenwich. There are currently
44 road closures in Town due to downed trees. Additionally, there are 38 areas with partial road
closures. Town DPW and Parks crews continue to clear trees from roadways with the assistance of
Eversource workers. The Town will also be employing private contractors to remove storm debris
during the upcoming week.

The Greenwich Police Department responded to 564 calls for service between 8am Friday and Sunday at
6pm. The Greenwich Fire Department responded to 184 incidents during the same time period.
According to Eversource, approximately 10% of customers remain without power, down from over a
quarter of the community. Eversource reports that their crews are working through the night to restore
power.

All Greenwich Public Schools reportedly have power, but closed roads may hamper access to many of
them. The School Superintendent will make the decision on the opening of public schools and then
announce it.

Residents are cautioned to watch for compromised trees that may still fall and to stay away from fallen
utility wires. Downed power lines should be immediately reported to the Greenwich Public Safety
Dispatch.

The lobby of the Greenwich Public Safety Complex is open 24 hours a day for anyone needing a place to
get warm. The Public libraries in Town will open at their regular times on Monday and may also be used
to get warm and to charge electronic devices. Additionally, the Western Greenwich Civic Center on
Pemberwick Road will open on Monday at 9am.

Town of Greenwich Public Safety Departments will continue to monitor the situation, work to re-open
roads and assist residents as needed. More info will be published as developments arise.

Eversource also issued the following update on its restoration efforts:

Eversource crews continue making significant progress restoring power to thousands of customers after Friday’s devastating storm that brought destructive winds, rain and snow to the state. Working alongside out-of-state lineworkers, crews have restored power to approximately 174,000 homes and businesses since the storm began. The company is on track to have the majority of customers without power back on line by 9 p.m. tonight.

“This has been painstaking work – in some parts of the state our crews are having to rebuild portions of the electric system,” said Eversource Vice President of Electric Operations in Connecticut Michael Hayhurst. “With almost 500 utility poles broken, 87 miles of electric lines down and nearly 400 blocked roads that had to be addressed, our crews have done a tremendous job and they are committed to continue working until every last customer is restored.”

With power restoration to most of Eversource customers affected by this storm complete later tonight, crews will focus on the remaining single or scattered outages. These are more complex outages that take additional time to complete and may require assistance from a private electrician or contractor. Lineworkers are going to each of these individual locations to assess what additional equipment or effort may be required to make repairs.

Customers can find a listing of estimated restoration times for their towns on eversource.com.

Photo credit: Eversource