Weather Damage Leaves Vernon Center A Mess: Updated

VERNON, CT — Two sections of Route 30 in Vernon Center were closed in separate weather-related incidents Tuesday morning.

Both occurred at about 9:30 a.m. It was raining heavily at the time.

Power lines were down in the vicinity of Vernon Center Middle School and Route 30 was shut down between West Street and Meadowlark Road, police said.

A transformer caught fire at the intersection of Route 30 and Tunnel Road, police said. That area was closed off to traffic as well, police said. A brush fire broke out in the area shortly after the transformer incident.

A crew from Eversource Energy was called to the area.

The utility sent an text alert to customers saying power would be restored by 12:30 p.m..

Some entities, including VCMS, CRS and the emergency services buildings in Vernon Center, did not have power restored until about 5 p.m.

Primary wires were down, Purcaro said.

At one point more than 4,000 Eversource customers had no power, he said.

Vernon Center Middle School and the police department were running on generator power. VCMS has a generator for the gym area because it is a regional disaster shelter.

Power was restored at Lake Street School in time for lunch, Purcaro said.

Center Road School was without power but was still conducting classes, he said.

School system officials were able to maintain the the regular bus schedule, but after-school activities were called off, officials said. Officials from the REK after-school program at the affected schools were on hand, butr parents were asked to pick up children as soon as they could.

School system officials sent out the following message on Tuesday afternoon:

As of 12:30 p.m. the electrical power at Vernon Center Middle School and Center Road School has not been restored. Both schools will continue a normal day including lunch and specials. Currently there are 150 homes in Vernon without power and there are several streets impassable due to the downed power lines. We will dismiss students at Vernon Center Middle School at their regular time 2:15 p.m. and Center Road School at 2:45 p.m. All after school activities at Vernon Center Middle School are cancelled for today, Tuesday, September 25th.

Due to some impassable roads there will be a delay in dropping off students for the p.m. bus routes. Please note that this may have an effect on other bus routes for students in Vernon. After speaking with the Vernon Police Chief and Emergency Management Director we are taking additional precautions to ensure our students return home safely. The safety and security of our students and staff are our top priority.

Photo Credit: Chris Dehnel

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