CITY OF SHELTON The National Guard was called to Shelton Thursday to help clear trees from roads.
That is about 12 percent of the roughly 17,000 United Illuminating customers in Shelton.
Pockets of service are out all over the city, including Pine Rock and parts of Long Hill Avenue, said John Millo, Shelton’s director of emergency management.
UI is telling the city they expect to have 98 percent of Shelton restored by Sunday.
There were still trees blocking roads in some parts of Shelton, so Millo called in the National Guard at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
About 15 members of the Guard were here within an hour. They helped clear the remaining blocked roads for about five hours, Millo said.
The presence of the National Guard boosted spirits, Millo said.
“People loved it. It was just great to see,” he said.
Mayor Mark Lauretti’s radio campaign earlier this week, in which he criticized UI’s response, helped the situation in Shelton, Millo said.
Lauretti did not return a call seeking comment.
Millo urged residents to keep checking Shelton’s website for the latest information. In addition, the website will be used as a collection point for information regarding storm damage. That information will eventually makes its way to FEMA.
“Please direct people to that website,” Millo said.
The Community Center is still offering the use of shower facilities.
The food, water, and ice distribution site has been moved to EMS Headquarters at 100 Meadow St. It will be available from 9 a.m. to about 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
In an interview with the Valley Indy Friday, Michael West, a spokesman with United Illuminating, said the weekend will see results.
“Our intent is by the end of tomorrow to have the vast majority of people back online,” West said. “Certainly, by Sunday, it will be less than 2 percent of customers who are still out.”
Those still without power Sunday could be properties that have the bad luck of not being hooked into a larger circuit.
Those properties have to be addressed on a case-by-case basis, West said.
It could also explain why the number of customers without power in Shelton stalled Friday.
“That could be what’s happening if you’re not seeing movement in some of the numbers. It has a lot to do with some of the actual type of work that has to be done,” West said.
If a tree damages an important electrical feeder or circuit, fixing that problem can sometimes bring back thousands of customers at once — as was the case Thursday in Shelton.
But if the tree has cut off power for a few houses, the wait can be painful.
“If you get a tree that falls on the infrastructure affecting 10 customers, that is going to take more time. You won’t see the numbers drop as quickly because those are more hand-holding projects,” West said.
Hire A Contractor?
A new development in the effort to get the Valley back online Friday — utility companies telling their customers to hire an electrical contractor.
West said this was happening in neighborhoods were a single property didn’t have power, but all the other neighbors did.
The single property that isn’t back online probably has damage to electrical equipment that UI doesn’t fix, West said.
That equipment includes the weatherhead, where the wires from the UI electrical line go into your house.
UI won’t fix weatherheads, West said.
“That is the responsibility of the homeowner. Our service stops at a certain point,” West said. “They’ll have to hire a licensed electrician to reconnect the line to their homes.”
UI provided this image showing what’s theirs and what’s yours:
