West Hartford in Recovery Mode in Aftermath of Irene

“All things considered, everything is going pretty well,” reported West Hartford Mayor Scott Slifka Sunday evening, following the departure of Hurricane Irene’s pounding rain and wind from the area.

The situation had improved enough that he was able to lift the State of Emergency that had been declared on Sunday morning. “CL&P now has crews working on removing the live wires that are down because of fallen trees,” Slifka said. There were 14 key locations initially identified as safety hazards due to live wires.

“Over 6,000 customers – about 21-22 percent of the town – are without power,” Slifka said. While Sunday night’s work by CL&P will be to make sure live wires no longer present a safety hazard, the actual task of repairing the downed lines will begin on Monday. Slifka said that the decision on how to proceed, and which jobs are priorities, is completely in the hands of CL&P.

Now that the storm has passed, the revoked the parking ban at 6 p.m. Sunday. The emergency shelter at , which only had to accommodate about 15 people at the height of the storm, was also closed Sunday evening. Residents of 100 Kane Street, who had to evacuate earlier Sunday due to bricks falling from the building, were allowed to return home.

“Public Works is still out there with their crews removing trees that are in the street,” Slifka said. He also reported that the is now responding to calls from homeowners to pump out flooded basements. However, residents need to know that the water must be at least 3 inches deep in the basement – roughly ankle deep – and free of sewage, for the fire department to respond.

As for standing water in yards and roadways, the Public Works Department asks that residents “give nature a chance and let the water recede naturally.”

“We’ve transitioned from the emergency part of the day to the recovery part of the day,” said Slifka. The “war room” of the Emergency Operations Center also closed on Sunday evening, although residents are still asked to report problems to 860-523-5203.

Things will gradually return to normal as the town cleans up after approximately 6 inches of rain and high winds (although not as strong as expected) knocked down older trees throughout the area. The already-saturated ground also contributed to the loss of many trees.

“Most of the damage is spread randomly, on a block-by-block basis,” said Slifka. The one exception is Loomis Drive where multiple poles were knocked down. , which is on Loomis Drive, has been operating on emergency power.

New teacher orientation previously scheduled for Monday has been postponed, but the town wide teacher convocation is still planned for Tuesday morning. Schools are not scheduled to open until Thursday, and any changes to their schedules will be announced later.

Slifka said, “Even though some people who are without power – and may be without power for some time – may not agree, we were very fortunate. West Hartford came through well. We were spared most of the high impact from this storm.”