Irene Leaves, But Leaves Plenty of Damage in Her Wake

Irene weakened to a tropical storm as it passed through Connecticut early Sunday afternoon, and although the storm never reached predicted hurricane levels it still left plenty of damage in its wake that Manchester could be dealing with for a long time to come.

Sunday afternoon, according to Connecticut Light and Power. Of the town’s 28, 621 electrical customers, 16,123, or approximately 56 percent, were without power as of 5:45 p.m. Statewide, CL&P said that.

CL&P officials said that about 800 work crews, some from as far away as Florida and Michigan, were working across the state to restore power to affected areas late Sunday, but that the first priority would be to assess the extent of the damage and then work with local public works crews to clear trees from roadways and make streets safe and passable again. CL&P officials said that power could be out for up to a week in some of the affected areas. 

“The damage from this storm was unprecedented and the restoration process may take a week or longer in some areas,” said Jeff Butler, the company’s president and chief operating officer. “We ask for and appreciate the understanding and patience of our customers during this difficult process.”

Although the flash flooding many predicted Irene would bring to the area never materialized either, fallen branches were prevalent across town, closing portions of a number of local roads. Many of the branches brought power lines down with them, presenting an additional safety hazard.

The storm uprooted a large tree on Middle Turnpike East directly across from Manchester High School, which closed that portion of the road. A CL&P crew was working to restore the line late Sunday afternoon. But that scene was far from unique Sunday, as fallen and uprooted trees could be spotted across town.

Heather Robinson, a Manchester resident who lives on Clinton Street near the downtown area, said she lost power as a result of the storm around 9 a.m. Sunday morning. She had to walk to a local business on Main Street just to charge her cell phone, which Robinson said was her only means of communication.

“I have no power, “Robinson said. “I’m going insane – no TV.”

On nearby Birch Street, Don Smith had a tree fall in his backyard and crash on a neighboring house, which was luckily abandoned. Smith, who noted another tree in his backyard that looked to be “just barely hanging on,” said he was living in the area in 1985 when Hurricane Gloria struck and that he thought Irene had caused more damage. 

“I’ve seen Gloria,” he said. “Gloria was close, but if you look around there’s a lot more damage here than what Gloria caused.”

But the folks at at 793 Main St. weren’t complaining about the storm – because Irene proved to be good for business over the weekend.

“We’ve been doing very, very good business for the past couple of days,” said Manager Akshar Patel. “Things like toilet paper and batteries were just going out the door. Basically, all the household products went out the door.”

Patel said the store remained open during the storm, and by Sunday afternoon they were out of produce and milk and only had two loafs of bread remaining.

“We sold twice as much yesterday as we normally do on a Saturday,” Patel said.

A parking ban remained in effect for the town until 8 a.m. Monday morning, and the town’s at the Manchester Senior Center would also remain open at least through the morning, according to Eileen Faust, the shelter’s manager.

Faust, who also serves as the director of the senior center, said the center would not be open Monday because the shelter was still active. She said two people spent the night at the shelter Saturday, and that attendance at the shelter topped out at nine early Sunday morning, while heavy winds and rain from the storm were still lashing the area. 

The non-emergency hotline, 860-647-5699, for residents seeking information about the storm and its effect on the town also remained active Sunday evening. 

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