Storm Updates

Mayor Moccia reports 4000 in Norwalk are without power. SoNo was one them, but power came back on after an hour of downtime.  Silvermine is without power. Power will be restored starting on Sunday as power crews wait for trees to be cleared. Two families are sheltering at Brien McMahon as trees fell into their houses. DPW crews are out clearing the roads while power crews are shutting down power in areas where live wires are down.

a note from Fire Chief McCarthy:

As a result of high winds and heavy rain many residents are without power. Northeast Utilities is working tonight to render their equipment safe. Residents without power will not be restored until Sunday at the earliest. Full restoration for all residents may take several days. As a result the City will open Brien McMahon HS 300 Highland Av. tonight as an emergency shelter for those residents who cannot stay in their homes. Residents in coastal neighborhoods should be advised that minor to moderate flooding will occur at the height of high tide tonight at 10:00 pm.

Updates can be found at the Emergency Management page of the City Web Site.

Thank you

Chief Denis McCarthy

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

  • C in the Hood

    Don’t bother driving down Wilton Avenue–there’s a big pine tree (along with power lines) down, towards the Ash Creek end of the road.

  • Thank you

    Want to say thank you to this blog and whoever provides this forum.
    A friend told me about this blog. Thank you for providing the forum and the updates. The media was not putting out anything and many of my friends lost power and telephone service. There was little if any information to be found. I changed my number so didnt recieve the emergency call. A heartfelt thank goes out to all the firemen, the police, the linemen that are out there risking their lives. A big thanks also goes out to the Red Cross that responded before the storm passed and prepared to help folks at the high school. No matter how bad things get, when needed, the people respond. Nice to know, when we lay our heads down to rest.

  • Who is on the ball

    Somebody wake up Hal, why the hell is he asleep anyway?
    MOCCIA GET THE HELL UP.
    You are the mayor.
    Start acting like one.
    Didn’t anyone tell these er, officials, we have an emergency.
    Wake him up.
    All hands on deck.
    Relax people, your DOT will get to you, eventually.
    Do these people realise we have a genuine emergency?

  • Who is on the ball

    We have trees and wires down everywhere, emergency response is extremely limited due to trees and wires obstructing most roadways. Thousands are without power and trapped in their homes without power or outside communications and we have to wait for the boys to sleep it off? Shouldn’t there be some kind of cordinated response with the utilty crews. Isn’t there anyone minding the store? Cmon, we have a lady trapped in her car with wires atop for hours in Silvermine, lets pick up our step dot clp. Unless you are DOT stay home. Please let rescue and DOT do their jobs. Alvord GET UP!!

  • Who is on the ball

    We need some heavy equipment on the street, push this debris clear so we have access for emergency responses. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ WAKE UP!!!!!!!!

    • Hysterical much?

      Unbelievable.

  • Roads blocked

    Here is a brief list of roads reported blocked in Norwalk;

    The list is unofficial and only includes evacuation routes not smaller streets.

    West Norwalk,
    Fillow,
    Ct Ave,
    North Taylor
    Highland Ave,
    Rowayton Ave,
    Flax Hill,
    Witch Lane,
    Murray Street
    Newtown,
    Chestnut Hill,
    Gumman,
    East Rocks,
    West Rocks,
    Dry Hill,
    Allen,
    Wolfpit,
    Stawberrry Hill,
    Tierney,
    County Road,
    Comstock,
    Silvermine,

    Hope there are no medical emergenices, help can’t reach you.

    Lets hope Alvord gets his act together quickly at first light.

    Only twelve hours of daylight.

    Thousands will be without power for days, lets get the roads clear, like now.

    This isn’t Haiti.

    We do have a a competent government, don’t we?

    Tags; Norwalk, Moccia, Alvord, Emergency, Storm, Disaster Response, D.O.T. , C.L.P. , A.T.T. Cablevision, Emergency Managment, Front End Loaders, Heavy Equuipment, Chain Saws, Power Outtages, Rescue

  • Cat 1 force winds slam Ffld county

    Hurricane force winds of up to 80 mph have been recorded.

    We have been lucky, the fatality count is low, lets get those roads clear and keep loss of life to an absolute minimum.

    Reports coming in of up to 200,000 with out power in the county.

    That means, exactly no one, is reading this, accept the lazy reporters with sat links.

    Schools may be closed all week in some communities. Norwalk schools will most likely be closed at least until Tuesday.

    There is widespread damage throughout the county.

    Grocery stores should be operational if you can reach one,

    however,

    “ya cant get there from here” is the quote of the day in many areas.

    If you have a chainsaw and plan to get out there today, please be very aware of live wires.

    On wet ground, you can recieve a fatal shock more than 50 feet away from a grounded energised line. Use extreme caution.

  • McMahon’s Music Man canceled

    McMahons Sunday afternoon performance of Music Man has been canceled.
    The set and props were tossed to make room for evacuee’s.
    Gonna be a long day.
    Areas on high ground seem to have receieved the most damage from the wind.
    Flooding appears to be normal.
    Power is out nearly everywhere.
    Everyone, Please, use utmost caution.
    Wires down and hanging everywhere.
    If you do not have an emergency, stay home, do your sight seeing tomorrow.
    Most back roads are not passable.

  • Huh?

    Gee, have you people never been in a storm where trees came down or the power went out before?

    Get a grip. Hysteria doesn’t look good on anybody.

  • Reminder

    Red Cross is on station at McMahon, power will be out, for many, the entire week. Plan accordingly.

  • Barnstorm

    I have no doubt that the utility crews were trying their best. I have every confidence the police and emergency management were doing as much as they could.

    All were woefully unprepared for what hit us.

    If this is what happens to us when a powerful nor’easter hits us, imagine our surprise when we (after many, many years) get an actual full-blown hurricane.

    We clearly need to do better.

    • Mother Nature Roars

      It is interesting that D.P.W. pulled all city crews at 6 pm today. Remaining calm is important. Don’t think the thousands of folks, still without power and trapped, are as comforted as those that have power, food and access to emergency help. We have the manpower in pd and fd and utility crews, but no one can do anything till the roads are cleared. Nudge nudge, command central.

      • This is NOT Hurricane Katrina

        so please, quit acting as if Norwalk is under some sort of extreme emergency.

        If you’re getting this worked up over a common nor’easter, god help you when a TRULY serious storm shows up.

      • Mother Nature does indeed roar

        It’s not so “interesting” when you allow yourself to realize that a) CL&P have very stringent safety regulations for their employees and they do not allow them to work during extreme wind and weather conditions, and b) it appears that they, at least, have paid attention to the weather reports that indicate additional high winds and rain would be taking place last night after 6pm.

        Would you rather have CL&P risking the lives of its employees by keeping them out in such conditions as we experienced Sunday night? Seems to me you’re working very hard at trying to create a controversy where there is none.

        If you don’t like the way CL&P has responded, or the tree companies, then I suggest you get a job with these companies, work yourself up in the ranks and when you become part of the management of these companies you can change the rules to suit yourself. Until you have a better idea – and can put it into action instead of merely sitting on your butt complaining – then maybe we can see if your money is where your mouth is.

  • Overreaction R Us

    Don’t know why anybody should have been “unprepapred”. This storm had been forecast since LAST WEDNESDAY if anybody had been watching Channel 8 News and saw the weather with Geoff Fox! And the amount of shocked whining about trees uprooted and wires down is completely ridiculous. This is NOT the first time we’ve had a storm like this in Norwalk within the past 55 years. Either people’s memories are extremely short or they have totally forgotten what a nor’easter can do. That’s why you get remarks like Larry Cafero’s, where he in his brilliance said “This is the worst storm I’ve seen in 52 years!!” Guess he forgot about Hurricane Gloria in 1985…..or the winter hurricane they call “The Perfect Storm” (you know, the one they wrote the book about and made the movie of?) where there were people living along the seawall in Harbor View who had BOATS in their living rooms and the Sound up to their second floors! I remember a storm back in 1975 or 1976 during the summer in which the Mill Pond overflowed and completely covered Seaview Avenue in the area between the Pastime Club and Overton’s, and other storms at various times where a quarter of Veterans Park was completely underwater.

    Went driving around town today and saw dozens of CL&P trucks and Asplund Tree Care trucks taking care of the branches and trees. At 3pm there were still trees down on Toilsome Avenue and Newtown Tpke, over by Cranbury Park and on Route 53 in Wilton, but we managed to travel throughout the town in the majority of places without much of a hassle. Sure, we had to detour a couple of times, but why should a few detours be made into such a humungous deal by the hysterically vocal minority?

    Weather happens; trees fall down; power lines come down; people sometimes die. Honestly, it’s not as if this is Haiti or New Orleans, for cryin out loud.

    Calm down, folks.

  • BLARNEY Re Over reaction

    Seaview Ave was flooded as the water was over the retaining wall on the bay and poured into Seaview ave for about 500 feet, not to mention the park which was as usual a water park.

    Anyone remember the 1955 flood? Made this look like a Sunday school picnic.

    I think that after the amount of snow we had, and then this thing, our city workers did a damn good job with what they had. Trying to get power company and private tree removal contractors is not an easy task when everyone in the state wants them NOW.

    It’s so easy to be a “Monday morning quarterback” or “hind site is alway 20/20.”

    Stop complaining and see what help your neighbor can use, and thank God that you can sit and type comments on this blog. I do thank him.

  • Apathetic Voter

    I remember several storms back in the 1970s where Seaview Avenue was underwater. Back then I was part of the local CB crowd, and we worked with the Norwalk Police to help monitor the storm and serve as extra “eyes and ears” for the community, letting the NPD know where there were downed trees and wires, localized flooding, and people who needed assistance. Vets Park also flooded then, as it always does in times of high tides and nor’easters with lots of rain and wind as we experienced this weekend. Believe me, this is not a brand-new phenomenon, nor is it anything to get all worked up over. I do have to agree with that previous poster, in this part of New England weather extremes like this are typical. We get them in the summer and we get them in the winter. Nor’easters are a fact of life in New England. On the other hand, the Flood of 1955 was the aftermath of TWO hurricanes that hit within weeks of each other, and the resultant flooding of that storm took out a good chunk of the business district on lower Wall Street.

    One thing nobody seems to have realized is the reason we lost so many trees at this time is because it is still too early for many of them to have gotten their sap to rise, which makes these trees brittle and much more likely to snap off 20 or 30 feet up as we have seen around town. When a nor’easter like this hits in warmer weather, the trees are much more likely to bend with the wind instead of snapping off. However, the loss of so much “deadwood” is to be expected, and believe me, it’s better that this storm hit now than a few months earlier, when the temps would have been much colder and the chances of ice and snow accompaniment would have been greater with the possibility of loss of life higher.

    The actions of CL&P, the DPW, the NPD and the NFD, all should be commended for their response to the storm. All too often citizens take their services for granted. Our thanks go out to them all.

    • NorwalkSpectator

      I’m no fan of having trees destroyed by high winds, but if this had happened when the leaves were on the trees, there would be even more down. So I’m thankful that there have only been two fatalities and that while there are people who are still without power and other phone services, we’re still alive and kicking.

      And yes, we lost a huge pine tree that had to be at least 80 years old at my parent’s house in a nearby town. So, yeah, I’m bummed about that, but grateful it didn’t fall on the house or hurt anyone.

  • The reason that many trees fell

    was because the sap hasn’t fully risen in the majority of them yet, so instead of bending with the wind, they were brittle and shattered.

    You’re right, it would have been MUCH worse if there were leaves on the trees. Just think of the damage we get during a typical severe thunderstorm during the summer! Our saving grace here was that this storm took place when the temps were warmer and there was no chance of snow or ice conditions. Can you imagine the state Norwalk would be in if this storm had happened just a few weeks ago – like, during the recent storm in which we received a foot of snow?? Conditions would be much, much worse for those without power than they are right now.

    Kind of reminds me of the winter of 1977-78 when we had that really bad snowstorm back on Feb. 8, 1978 and Gov. Grasso closed the state down completely because of the 2+ feet of snow that dropped on us overnight. We had no power in Norwalk for a full week. Schools were closed and at our house, we had the fireplace roaring day and night and we slept on the living room floor in sleeping bags and piles of blankets just to keep warm. We heated soup, not dogs and beans in the fireplace too. If this kind of storm had hit over the weekend with the same amount of downed trees and wires, just think of how bad it would be then!

    We really should thank our lucky stars that this storm was not as severe as it COULD have been. And yeah, so we’re inconvenienced by a few days without power — at least nobody will suffer frostbite or hypothermia from the weather conditions, nobody’s pipes will freeze, the streets and sidewalks aren’t coated with ice; and we don’t have to worry about how or when the streets might get plowed.