Glastonbury Took a Hard Hit From Irene

While news of Irene played out in photos and stories of damage along the coastline and in communities along Interstate 91, Glastonbury has quietly dealt with its own consequences of the storm.

The town, known for its rolling hills, orchards, thriving business community and family-friendly atmosphere, has the distinction of being left almost completely in the dark by Irene.

Officials estimate that between 94 percent and 97 percent of utility customers are without power in town. And no one has a handle on when the lights are going to come back on.

“It would be a guess only,” said Robert “Bobby” DiBella, the town’s  director of emergency management and civil preparedness. On Monday, going on four hours sleep, DiBella answered questions and solved problems with the help of three volunteers and a CL&P official. His office is in a garage behind the police station, where he shares space with an emergency van. His desk is crammed with five landlines, a cell phone, a flat screen TV, a radio, a police scanner, maps and lists of all kinds.

DiBella recalled the aftermath of Hurricane Gloria in 1985 when Glastonbury was without power five to seven days. His hope is for the power outage to last only two to three days this time. But that’s just a hope.

When not answering the phone, DiBella was monitoring all the crews the town had out working, such as those removing trees blocking passage of roads - 53 roads are impassable - to  those responding to such emergencies as a couple in  their 90s who could not get out to get food and water.

“It’s been wild for the past few days,” he said.

Most residents get their water from wells, so in addition to the inconvenience of no electricity, many have no water, because their well pumps require power.

Officials have made the high school available until Wednesday (when school opens) for residents to shower. They’ve also made drinkable water available at all four firehouses throughout town (bring your own jug). They’ve set up charging stations in an annex of town hall to provide power for cell phones, laptops and other small appliances. In addition, they’ve expanded hours at the bulky waste site for resident to deposit storm debris. The town will not charge for dumping and will not require a permit, only proof of residency. For a list of services the town offers, visit the town website. Information also is disseminated on the town’s emergency radio system, 1570 AM. The town’s municipal offices are open, but the library and senior center are closed, DiBella said.

Not only are 11,000 to 12,000 customers without power, but “our entire business district is shut down,” said Town Manager Richard Johnson.

More than 3,000 businesses are located in Glastonbury. On Monday, Main Street was eerily dark with the exception of Katz’s Ace Hardware, which was running on four generators. Best and Battison’s dry cleaning services were allowing customer to drop off and pick up dry cleaning.

Stephen Taylor, the lone employee at Battison’s, said he had three customers between 12:30 and 3:30 p.m., dropping off clothing to be cleaned. Typically he gets 20 to 30 customers in that time frame. Taylor said he was concerned that customers who did not know they were open would go elsewhere to get their clothes cleaned.

Johnson said he had no estimate on how much businesses were losing because of the power outage.

Stop & Shop and Gardiner’s Market were open but were selling limited groceries. No pharmacies were open, but late Monday afternoon, a minivan-sized generator was delivered to the CVS on Main Street, with the hope that the store would open Monday night.

Glastonbury is home to several coffee shops, none of which were open on Monday.  Residents, such as Tom Hashem, who couldn’t make coffee at home headed for Manchester. Gasoline also was scare in town. Some filled up at Irving on Main Street in South Glastonbury.

“Get it while it lasts,” one customer said.