Nearly half of Eversource’s Connecticut customers have been affected by power outages due to Tropical Storm Isaias, with almost 622,000 outages reported to the electric utility.
The storm tore through Connecticut and much of the East Coast Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday morning, and Eversource’s line and tree crews have been responding to outages and damage caused by the storm, the company said. Outages have affected about 48% of the utility’s customers.
Getting customers’ power up and running is especially important amid the COVID-19 pandemic, said Eversource Vice President of Electric Operations Mike Hayhurst, who also acknowledged that enhanced sanitization and social distancing among the crews could slow repairs.
“With many customers still working remotely during this challenging time, we recognize how important it is to have reliable power,” Hayhurst said. “Our team will work around-the-clock to restore power as quickly and safely as possible – yet some restorations may take longer as we work to ensure the safety of our employees and customers.”
Gov. Ned Lamont late Wednesday morning declared a state of emergency in response to widespread power outages caused by Tropical Storm Isaias. The governor’s office said the declaration authorizes Lamont to order certain actions to accelerate the state’s response.
“I remain in consistent communication with municipal leaders and utility officials so that we can move resources to where they are most needed at this time,” Lamont said in a statement. “I continue to have regular communications with our emergency operations center, which is managing both the response to this storm and our continued response to COVID-19.”
Eversource is encouraging customers to report any downed power lines by calling 9-1-1, and to report power outages online at www.eversource.com, or by phone at 800-286-2000.
