Most utility customers in Hamden and North Haven should have power back on by the end of today as crews work to repair damage from Tuesday’s tornadoes, United Illuminating said Friday.
Utility crews will be concentrating on those two towns today after repairing most of the outages in the rest of UI’s territory overnight, spokesman Ed Crowder said.
“The devastation is remarkable,” said Joe Thomas, UI’s vice president for electric system operations. “In the hardest-hit areas, we’re not so much repairing the electric system as rebuilding it from the ground up.”
As of 11 a.m. Friday, 2,508 UI customers remained without power, virtually all in Hamden and North Haven. The utility’s territory in the region includes New Haven and its immediate suburbs, along with Milford and several towns in the lower Naugatuck Valley.
Eversource, which serves the rest of the state, reported 37,803 customers still without power as of 11 a.m., mainly in Connecticut’s western corridor.
That utility said it expects to restore power in the hardest-hit towns, including Brookfield, Danbury, Monroe and Newtown, no later than noon Sunday.
The National Weather Service confirmed at least four tornadoes hit Connecticut on Tuesday, causing two deaths in Danbury and New Fairfield.
The damage was catastrophic in northern Hamden, where a tornado left a swath of shattered trees, snapped utility poles and downed power lines in the area near Sleeping Giant State Park. Before reaching Hamden, the tornado touched down in Beacon Falls and destroyed a barn in Bethany.
UI said it is working closely with the town of Hamden and using its public works complex as a staging area.
Hamden has opened an Emergency Assistance Center at West Woods School for residents still without power. The Hamden/North Haven YMCA is letting residents use their shower facilities and charge phones during business hours, town officials said.
Joe Cooper contributed to this story. Natalie Missakian can be reached at news@newhavenbiz.com
