Storms Knock Out Power in Area

As Thursday evening's intense storms made their way through the state, Connecticut Light and Power (CL&P) has opened its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Berlin.

Over 100 CL&P and contractor line and tree crews were ready to restore power to customers affected by outages.

"We have been carefully watching the weather and put plans in place so we have crews and support staff ready to respond once the storm moves through," said Al Roy, CL&P's manager of emergency management. "As always, we will be working with town and state officials to coordinate our efforts."

During the storm, CL&P is encouraging customers to:

• Stay at least 10 feet away from all wires! Assume any downed, hanging or burning power lines are live and dangerous. Call 9-1-1 immediately.  If a power line falls on your vehicle, vehicle while you’re inside, stay there.  Don’t touch anything outside the vehicle and wait for emergency crews.
• Report your power outage by calling CL&P at 800-286-2000, or 860-947-2000 in the Hartford/Meriden area. The automated phone system rapidly processes your report and helps CL&P speed restoration efforts. It also provides restoration estimates as soon as they’re available.
• Before operating a generator, make sure it has been properly installed by a licensed electrician. Improperly installed generators can feed electricity back into power lines and pose a deadly situation for our workers. Always operate generators outdoors to avoid carbon monoxide hazards.

As of 8 p.m., 532 were reported to be without power in East Hampton, 523 in Portland, 777 in East Haddam and 5,933 in Middletown.

The good news is that cooler and less humid weather is expected through the weekend.