Sara McCloskey
Managing Editor
April showers have yet to begin, but the March nor’easter brought high winds and plenty of rain this past weekend. New Canaan was declared ‘in a State of Emergency’ on Sunday, and the havoc is still on our streets.
The tree damage has been devastating in most areas. Colin Brown, an Environmental Educator at the New Canaan Nature Center, has been living on site for a year and a half at the Center and has never seen this kind of devastation there. “Around 15 to 20 trees probably fell; six or seven trees blocked the trails,” Mr. Brown said. “The rain wasn’t that bad, it was a normal March or April rain, but the wind was very strong.”
Other areas of New Canaan had similar wreckage. “The East side is awful, around the Carter Street and Valley Road area,” freshman Grace Elliott said. “There were a lot of trees that fell in my neighborhood and my basement flooded.“
Many families are out of power because of the fallen wires. “We are all in the living room because it is freezing,” freshman Jessica Sandor said. “Six trees fell on our property line and the top half of our road is blocked-off.”
Jessica, like many other students and New Canaanites, spent the day at the New Canaan Library to reconnect with any technology swept away by the weather. The library became a safe haven for those, like Jessica, who needed to charge their cell phones. Others needed to do some unfinished work. “I have no power and no access to a computer or Internet so I brought all of my stuff to work on,” junior Stewart Taylor said. “At this point, it’s a good idea to do some of it today because there is no power.”
Kevin McIntosh and Laurie Kelly, who are members of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), were positioned on Seminary Street to prevent oncoming drivers from entering the hazardous area. A tree had fallen on electrical wires which were still “live,” or transmitting electricity. “People should adhere to barriers and police instructions for their own safety. You should never go near down wires because live wires on the ground can transmit electricity,” Mr. McIntosh said. “We [CERT members] never go three telephone pole distances to the site (because it is dangerous).”
The danger does not only lie on the roads, but in your own home. Because of the loss of power, there is a greater risk to house fire due to open flames. Laurie Kelly offered advice to prevent fires during a power outage. “Don’t use open flames. Put them in containers that prevent them from being flipped over,” Ms. Kelly said.
At 4:00 pm yesterday, Town Hall released a storm update that stated, “CL&P is now predicting 99% power restoration by Thursday evening and that school closing will be evaluated for Wednesday on Tuesday.”
New Canaan is still recovering slowly – mending broken power lines and cutting up fallen trees. “Once the power went out, my Mom went out and got chips, salsa, and nonperishables. We didn’t think the storm was going to be that bad,” Jessica said.
Photos by Sara McCloskey
Car photo by Kyle Isherwood
