Power Out, Trees Down Throughout West Hartford

"Things in town are under control and we are responding as well as possible to problems," said Mayor Scott Slifka late Sunday morning.

Slifka, who had previously been at the Emergency Operations Center at the , was out surveying the town with Ron Van Winkle and Director of John Phillips.

"We declared the State of Emergency because CL&P is unable to address the downed power lines," said Slifka, who hopes CL&P will be able to change that directive soon.

Phillips said that the Public Works Department has been busy trying to keep ahead of the storm, and that, "Things have been going well, considering."

All arterials – main roads – were open as of 11:30 a.m., and crews were working to ensure that debris in the roads would not pose a danger to travel.

"There are some secondary roads, or parts of road, which are closed because of trees which have fallen on power lines," Phillips said. Those roads included:

• Elmfield Street
• Whetton Road
• Beacon Hill (several cul-de-sacs are now isolated)
• Spring Lane
• Loomis Drive
• Edgemere Avenue

Only three people spent the night at the shelter last night, and several are there right now.

"All the calls we have gotten to the Emergency Operations Center are exactly what we expected. We have not been surprised by anything," said Phillips.

He urged anyone venturing outside to only observe – not to touch anything that may be in contact with power lines – and contact the West Hartford police at 860-523-5203.

Most businesses are closed today, and as of this morning the only open drug store in town was in Bishop's Corner. The on New Park Ave. is open, as is the .

At 11:45 a.m., CL&P reported 4,745 customers without power in West Hartford, which represents 16 percent. A total of 565,899 customers are without power statewide.

West Hartford Patch will continue to provide updates as the storm rolls in. If you know of problems in town, please let us know by taking part in Cover It Live, a live blogging effort designed to keep people in touch with what’s going on across the region.