Community Corner

News Updates From Our Towns

Latest on Hurricane Irene's aftermath in Portland and East Hampton.

Update 2:30 p.m. Monday:

East Hampton schools will be closed on Tuesday. The town remains completely without power. The high school is open for residents to shower, get water (bring containers) and charge cell phones, laptops, etc., till 6 p.m. on Monday and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Many businesses open in the downtown area of Portland. A few businesses are open for cash only purchases in East Hampton.

Find out what's happening in East Hampton-Portlandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Route 66 from Portland to East Hampton is mostly cleared. One section is reduced to one lane. Route 16 also is cleared. Several other side roads in Portland and East Hampton remain blocked, including Smith Street in East Hampton between Route 66 and Edgerton.

Update 9:30 a.m. Monday:

Find out what's happening in East Hampton-Portlandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

East Hampton remains without power with 100 percent of the town affected. Portland has had some service restored and is at 51 percent without power. Marlborough, Colchester, Glastonbury, East Haddam, Hebron, at or near 100 percent without power.

Update 8:20 p.m. Sunday:

Cones that East Hampton Police put up to divert traffic near Route 66 and Barton Hill Road are being removed, presumably by motorists. The tree and wires down at that location take up slightly more than three-fourths of Route 66 and motorists are trying to squeeze through rather than taking the detour. Please do not remove traffic cones.

Update 8 p.m.:

Avoid Middletown Avenue (Route 16) in East Hampton between routes 66 and 196. That portion of Route 16 is closed and you will have to turn around.

The East Hampton emergency shelter has closed.

Stop & Shop in East Hampton is open for normal business hours. Only non-perishable food items and non-food being sold.

Update 7 p.m.:

Crews are in East Hampton working on power lines. However, there is another report of lines down, perhaps a pole, on Middletown Avenue. Expect a detour. With the wind picking up again, more branches and lines could come down.

Route 66 between Portland and East Hampton has not yet been cleared. Detours will take you along the back roads, but be cautious. Several lines and large branches down along those roads.

CL&P reports that 100 percent of East Hampton is without power. In Portland, 3,265 are without power (71 percent).

Update 4 p.m.:

No reports of flooding in either of our towns.

Route 66 has trees down in two locations between Portland and East Hampton and drivers are being detoured. Workers are at the site of one tree near the intersection with 151 to clear it.

Some busineses in Portland are open, including Rite Aid. In East Hampton, the Route 66 Food Bag is open despite no having power.

Portland residents who feel they require emergency shelter are asked to call 911.

Portland Fire Chief Robert Shea is concerned about the many wires down that are hidden by debris "until you're practically on top of them."  He says it's a very dangerous situation. Shea expects it will be a long haul for many families until power is brought back. CL&P is able to move in, Shea says he'll have pages of locations to hand them where lines are down.

Original story:

Hurricane Irene has left nearly 6,000 without power in East Hampton as of 7:15 a.m. on Sunday.

There have been a few recents reports of wires down across streets, which police are responding to.

In Portland, 1,013 were without power as of 7:45 a.m.

East Hampton has set up an emergency shelter at the high school which is open. Portland has not activated its shelter as of yet.

The East Hampton-Portland Patch will continue to update this story throughout the day with the latest news from Hurricane Irene.

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