Just over 13,000 residents remain without power as of Friday at 4 p.m. after heavy rainfall and wind made their way across the state late Thursday night into Christmas morning.
“We know the timing of this storm couldn’t have been worse as people are trying to celebrate the Christmas holiday. The damaging winds and heavy rains with this storm caused damage to the electric system and caused widespread power outages in 117 of the 149 towns we serve,” said Eversource Chairman, President and CEO Jim Judge in a press release.
The utility company said it prepositioned crews all across the state on Thursday to address issues when safely possible. Eversource cancelled employee vacations and brought in extra crews from Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
“We had about 36,000 customers without power as of 7 a.m. this morning and continue to make progress,” said Mitch Gross, Eversource spokesman. “So far we’re seen power lines down because of downed trees, some instances of power poles knocked down and over 100 blocked roads across the state.”
Eversource predicts power should be restored to eastern and central parts of the state by later Friday night, according to Gross. Western Connecticut should expect power restoration by Saturday night or early Sunday morning due to more complex outage issues.
Woodbury, Ridgefield, New Milford and Newtown were the most affected by the storm, Gross added.
United Illuminated, which serves greater New Haven and Bridgeport areas, continues to work on power restorations and had only 41 affected customers as of Friday afternoon.
Wind gusts overnight reached a high of 70 miles per hour along the coast with Fairfield county seeing the worst of it. Temperatures were in the 60s.
As of the National Weather Service’s latest rainfall report, Connecticut received 1 to 3 inches of rain -- less than what was initially forecasted. Nonetheless flood warnings remain. Hartford and Tolland counties remain under flood warning until 5 p.m. as rainfall continues as well as several rivers including the Connecticut River and Farmington River.
NWS urged people to be cautious when walking near riverbanks and steer clear of flooded roads if possible.