Reporter Tony Spinelli reports from Oxford Town Hall:Oxford should have significant power restoration by Friday, First Selectwoman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers said.
“By the end of the week, that gives them Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, we’ll see significant improvement in the number of homes by the end of the week,” Drayton-Rogers said in an interview at Town Hall.
Most of Oxford has been without electricity since Sunday morning. Many in town have been without power since Saturday.
There is no school in Oxford Wednesday.
Drayton-Rogers said Connecticut Light & Power crews were clearing trees off power lines Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Drayton-Rogers expects CL&P to switch to the power restoration phase.
“I think tomorrow we’ll have some more (restoration work) and it will continue after that,” she said.
Parts of town started to come back online Tuesday, fire chief and emergency management director Scott Pelletier said.
The areas restored included Christian Street around the Waterbury-Oxford Airport and Route 67 from the Southbury town line to
Route 42.
The Captain Wooster Road area was back online Tuesday, but was disconnected so that more tree branches could be cleared. The area was expected to be brought back online Tuesday night.
As of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, 4900 CL&P customers were still without power, or 93 percent of all CL&P customers in Oxford.
About five local roads were still closed or partially closed Tuesday from the trees and branches that fell during the storm.
O’Neill Road was closed and crews were working to clear it just before 4 p.m. There were partial blockages on Peach Farm Road. Hogs Back Road near the Route 188 line was closed with a pole across it, and Sioux Drive was also closed with a pole across it.
The Department of Public Works was also helping to clear trees, he said.
“The DPW is out there working diligently trying to get all the stuff they can do, where no power lines are involved, and get those cleaned up,” Pelletier said.
