The latest round of stormy weather Thursday, including a suspected tornado, left thousands of residential and commercial customers around New Haven county without power.
Meteorologist Ryan Hanrahan of NBC Connecticut said on Twitter he is “quite confident” a tornado touched down in Bethany and Hamden.
The National Weather Service will make an official determination, and indicated it was sending a team to survey the damage Friday, particularly in Guilford, North Branford, Branford, East Haven, North Haven, Bethany, Hamden and Waterbury.
United Illuminating, a subsidiary of Orange-based Avangrid Inc., reported as of 12:30 p.m. Friday it had 12,782 customers still without power from the storm, with the bulk of those affected in Hamden, New Haven, North Branford and North Haven. This was down from some 20,000 customers as of 9 p.m. Thursday.
The company reported having more than 260 line and tree workers out clearing roadways, assessing damage and working to restore power, with its crews working alongside National Guard personnel.
UI expects to restore service to a majority of its customers by Friday evening, with restoration substantially complete Saturday, though officials cautioned it could take longer in particularly hard-hit areas.
For some customers, the damage is so severe that crews have to rebuild the electric system, the company said Friday. It expects those customers to be restored by Monday.
Eversource as of Friday at 12:30 p.m. reported having 13,786 customers without power, with the majority in Branford, where 8,762 were in the dark. Eversource anticipated getting most customers statewide restored by late Friday, though hard-hit Branford may take through Saturday night.
The company deployed a mobile command unit in Branford due to the level of damage there.
PHOTO | Courtesy Eversource
Both utility companies had been widely criticized after Tropical Storm Isaias left some customers without power for several days.
Eversource indicated its crews will be “working around the clock,” until all customers have their power back on.
Eversource Vice President of Electric Operations Mike Hayhurst said the storm damage was particularly bad in Branford.
“In Branford, the damage is so severe our crews are facing traffic jams and impassable roads,” Hayhurst said. “We’re working alongside first responders there to help clear blocked roads and gain access to damage locations so crews can begin making necessary repairs and restore power.”
Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com.
