Connecticut Light & Power is sending out helicopters to assess the damage from Thursday's storm and estimating that full restoration for the entire state may take multiple days, officials said, while 58 percent of Brookfielders remained without power as of noon Friday.
"Restoration will go through the weekend, as late as Sunday," CL&P spokesman Frank Poirot said Friday.
Thousands of people across the state lost power, including 5,400 customers in Brookfield, following Thursday's vicious storm, which ripped through the area, leaving behind a trail of damage on the roadway system that has made it difficult for emergency crews to assess the damage and even reach the hardest hit areas, officials said.
CL&P has responded by using a helicopter to survey the damage from the air, Poirot said.
"We're having difficulty doing it on the ground," he said of the assessment.
Meanwhile utility crews from Michigan and Ohio were also being asked to come to the state to augment the 155 line crews and 124 tree crews already working to restore service, Poirot said.
The priority for service restoration will start with areas that contain emergency facilities, such as hospitals, followed by main roads, such as Route 7 in Brookfield, which serves as an important backbone to the power system, Poirot said. That means that less used roads may have to wait for multiple days before they are cleared, officials said.
"It remains to be seen how it progresses," Poirot said.
Updated List of Road Closures as of 12PM:
- Route 25 (Whisconier Road) — from Four Corners to the Town Center and from West Whisconier to the Newtown line
- Route 133 — from the Town Center to Bridgewater
- Federal Road — between Route 133 and 305 Federal (take Old New Milford Road as a detour)
- Obtuse Rocks Road
- Oak Grove
- Hillendale
Most secondary streets still have at least one lane of travel closed due to debris or downed wires.
