Sen. Richard Blumenthal was at Oxford Town Hall Thursday to hear about what Hurricane Irene did to town.
First Selectwoman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers, Oxford Ambulance Director Jerry Schwab and state police Sgt. Dan Semosky gave a frank rundown of how the storm affected Oxford, what the town learned from the experience — and how thoroughly underwhelmed they were with CL&P’s response to the storm.
In addition to a story, the Valley Indy videoed the meeting. Here are the highlights.
In this first video, Schwab tells the Senator about how a tree on Sunday knocked down power lines, which proceeded to burn through the pavement and rupture a gas line. The wire then triggered a fireball that forced Oxford officials to evacuate several houses.
CL&P was no help during the incident, Oxford officials said.
In the following clip, Drayton-Rogers provides an overview of damage brought by Irene. She mentions extensive flooding of the Little River and the Housatonic River. Drayton-Rogers and Semosky suggested that FirstLight Power, the company that owns the Stevenson Dam, should be lowering Lake Zoar and other lakes above the dam more than they do now.
In the following video, Drayton-Rogers talks about how the town wanted CL&P to restore power to town in an organized manner. For example, Drayton-Rogers said Oxford High School was a top priority because it was being used as the town’s emergency shelter — but it was among the 90 percent of town that was offline.
“They didn’t follow our recommendations at all,” Schwab said.
When the power goes out for an extended period of time, emergency officials need some type of answer, any type of answer as to how long residents may be in the dark. CL&P just wasn’t responding to questions, Schwab said.
