Valley Independent Sentinel

Superstorm Sandy: By The Minute

by STAFF | Oct 30, 2012 7:51 am

(0) | Commenting has expired | Send link to a friend | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour, Shelton, Frankenstorm

Note: We’re updating this post constantly. Refresh your page and hug an emergency responder.

The number of calls coming over emergency scanners regarding downed wires and trees in the lower Naugatuck Valley is staggering.

In addition, there were two calls in Shelton at about 6 p.m. regarding trees falling onto homes, trapping people inside. There were no injuries, luckily.

The radio calls are coming so often, it’s hard to tell what’s happening where.

Here’s what we’ve pieced together in the last few hours.

3:15 p.m. — Report of a tree on a house and wires, 32 Hull Street in Ansonia

3:38 p.m. — Report of smoke in the basement at a home at 63 Hogsback Road in Oxford

(Then we went to listen to a conference call in Derby OEM at 4 p.m.)

5:13 p.m. — Long Hill Avenue and Broc Terrace — wires in tree, burning, Shelton

5:15 p.m. — Tree across Route 42 in Oxford, intersection of Chestnut Tree Hill Road and Pines Bridge (Facebook reader).

5:17 p.m. — Nichols Avenue, wires down small electrical fire in Shelton.

5:18 p.m. — Report of wires down in the road with small fire, 323 Buddington Road in Shelton

5:21 p.m. — 16 Jefferson Street. Roof blew off porch, now hanging on wires in Shelton.

5:23 p.m. — 74 Jane Street. tree onto house in Shelton, no injuries reported

5:29 p.m. — Power out on O’Sullivan Road, Derby, reader said.

5:30 p.m. — 52 Shinnacock Trail, Shelton, report of a tree into a house, no injuries.

5:36 p.m. — So much radio traffic firefighter asking them to simply note pole numbers.

6:15 p.m. — Shelton dispatch: UI is not responding to calls right now because of the dangerous wind situation.

6:20 p.m. — United Illuminating and Gov. Malloy announce a substation in Bridgeport will have to be powered down, which will cut off power to an unspecified number of residents in Shelton.

From Malloy’s Twitter feed:

“1. De-energizing two substations in Bridgeport will result in 52k losing power; 35k in Bridgeport, rest in Fairfield/Stratford/Trumbull/Shelton

2. They have to do this because if the substations flood while they’re energized, the results could be catastrophic

3. The hope is that de-energizing before they potentially flood will make the restoration efforts in that area go more smoothly & quickly”

6:34 p.m. — Report of a wires on a car in the area of Bridgeport Avenue and Long Hill Cross Road, Shelton.

6:42 p.m. — Derby OEM Director Charles Sampson reported: “We currently have a large tree down on Academy Hill at Ridge Ave with no power on the entire hilltop. We have a tree down on the wires at Roosevelt and Cemetery Ave with minor loss of power in the area.

Storm is predicted to be heavy till midnight.”

6:44 p.m. — Crews dispatched to Birchbank Road and Indian Well Road, Shelton, for a report of a generator on fire.

6:46 p.m. — Report of wires down at Park and Still roads in Oxford.

6:59 p.m. — Utility companies reported the following outage figures: Ansonia: 229, Derby: 1,339, Oxford: 1,949, Seymour: 2,000, Shelton: 1,603

7:10 p.m. — First Selectman Kurt Miller in Seymour reported via Facebook “The EOC is receiving and dispatching lots of calls, MANY down live wires and trees Our EMS providers are out working hard, let them be safe!”

7:13 p.m. — The City of Ansonia sent out a message to residents saying numerous residents are without electricity due to high winds. Click here to read the announcement.

7:14 p.m. — Oxford firefighters responded to a report of a commercial fire alarm sounding at 99 Country Club Road.

7:21 p.m. — Ansonia says four people have checked in at the emergency shelter at Ansonia High School.

7:22 p.m. — Report of a house collapse on Shelton Avenue in Shelton. Turned out tree had fallen against side of home. No injuries reported.

7:43 p.m. Ambulance personnel sent message saying Division Street is closed near Griffin Hospital due to tree and wires down. Ambulances were advised to use Maple Avenue instead.

7:46 p.m. Report of a car into a house, in the area of 89 Hawthorne Ave. in Derby.

7:49 p.m. — Utility companies reported the following outage figures: Ansonia: 1,313, Derby: 2,124, Oxford: 2,278, Seymour: 3,053, Shelton: 4,920.

8:06 p.m. — Everybody and their brother reports that the “Superstorm” has made “landfall.”

8:39 p.m. — Billboard on the side of JRB’s in Ansonia was reported to be hanging off and hitting utility wires.

8:40 p.m. – 9:44 p.m. Valley Indy reporters drove from Shelton to Derby. Large swath of east Derby without power. Traffic lights at the intersection of Route 34 and Route 115 were not working. Power was also out along Route 115 heading toward Division Street. Main Street Ansonia starting near Target had power. The Valley Indy was unable to make it to the Seymour emergency operations center on Bostford Road in Seymour due to extensive road closures.

10:48 p.m. — Utility companies reported the following outage figures:

Ansonia: 1,458, or 17.24 percent

Derby: 2,132, 34.08 percent

Oxford: 3,365, 63 percent

Seymour: 3,835, 51 percent

Shelton: 7,693, 44.12 percent

11:38 p.m. — Derby responded to a report of a child having a seizure at a residence on Olivia Street.

12:13 a.m., Monday Outage numbers as of midnight as reported by the websites of CL&P and United Illuminating:

Ansonia: 1,468, 17.36 percent

Derby: 2,134, 34.12 percent

Oxford: 3,481, 65 percent

Seymour: 3,836, 51 percent

Shelton: 9,511, 54.55 percent

7:50 a.m. — The no power numbers show a 20 percent increase in Seymour:

Ansonia — 914 (10.8 percent)

Derby — 2,134 (34.1 percent)

Oxford — 3249 (61 percent)

Seymour — 5499 (73 percent)

Shelton — 9326 (53 percent)

8:09 a.m. — Gov. Malloy officially lifted the travel ban on state highways.

8:32 a.m. — Gov. Malloy holds press conference, starts off by expressing condolences for a firefighter who was killed last night.

Comments

News Feeds

Valley Independent RSS 2.0 Feed Valley Independent Atom Feed

Sponsors

Knight Foundation Valley Foundation The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven

Sponsors have no input into or responsibility for articles published on this site.

V.I.S. Site Design & Development

smartpill design