Hurricane Sandy Updates for Ledyard: Hot Showers, Drinking Water, School News

Updated Wednesday, Oct. 31 at 5:00 p.m.:

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Graner canceled school through the rest of the week and classes will resume Monday, Nov. 5.

Only two schools (the High School and Ledyard Center School) have electricity and he said the schools are too dark to conduct classes.

Consequently, they are able to open up the showers in the High School for residents on Thursday and Friday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.  Residents should bring soap, shampoo and towels, etc.

Advisories

The CL&P outage map lists 89 to 90 percent CL&P customers in Ledyard are in the dark. There are still power lines on the roads and CL&P crews are still conducting  “make-safe” and emergency repairs.

“I’ve been led to believe that restoration crews will arrive tomorrow (Thursday),” said Emergency Management Director Sean McGuckin. He said the crews will repair main circuits first and that residential circuits are secondary.

Residents should call the fire department if they encounter medical or health issues as a result of a power outage. Fire Departments may help with transportation and recharging medical devices.

Roads are open, these roads are blocked but detours are available:

Christie Hill Road at Oakwood Drive

Pheasant Run at Warbler Way and Lark Lane

Lark Lane at Whippoorwill Road

Evening temperatures are expected to dip into the mid-40s this week and drop down into the 30s over the weekend. The American Red Cross has opened a regional emergency shelter at the Groton Senior Center located at 102 Newtown Road (a.k.a. Route 117 in Groton). The shelter is open tonight and Ledyard residents are welcome to drop in and stay overnight. People are advised to bring their own pillows, blankets, snacks and medication.

The Town is advising residents and homeowners to begin preparing information for FEMA. Call 1-800-621-FEMA or go to www.disasterassistance.gov.

Updated Wednesday, Oct. 31, 10 a.m.

Town Hall, Bill Library, Gales Ferry Library and Community Center, and the Senior Center will be used for charging and warming centers today.

Hot showers are available at Ledyard High School from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Interested residents can enter through the main door of the high school and should bring their own soap, shampoo and towels, etc.

If you see a blue helicopter flying low today, don't panic, it's a CL&P helicopter. The CL&P outage map is reporting that 89 percent of Ledyard customers are in the dark.

The transfer station for regular services today and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 and on Sunday from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.  It will also be open from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday for brush and leaves only.

Drinking water is available at Town Hall, the fire stations, the High School and the Middle School, residents should bring their own water containers.

Advisories

Today is Oct. 31, Halloween, but town representatives are urging parents to postpone trick or treating to Monday, Nov. 5. The decision came out of a meeting among Ledyard public service managers and Town Councilors who cautioned that, with 80 percent of the town without electricity, the roads will be dark and may be hazardous to drivers and pedestrians.

Two residents sustained non-life threatening injuries from trees Tuesday, according to Ledyard Police Lt. Michael Finkelstein. Residents are cautioned that trees are damaged and weakened from the storm and are urged to be careful when working on them.

Residents were also seen operating portable generators indoors. Patch posted these safety tips last year in anticipation of Hurricane Irene, which includes this nugget of helpful advice: “They should be placed outdoors and should be kept far away from doors and vents. Generators can quickly produce high levels of the poisonous gas carbon monoxide if not used in a ventilated area.” Click here for the rest of the article.

There were eight houses damaged by trees, according to Fire Marshall James Mann, who said only three houses sustained significant damage.

Services

School is cancelled again today but the high school may be opened up to the public Wednesday between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. for hot showers, according to Sean McGucken, the director of Emergency Management. He is corralling staff to man the operations and a final decision of availability will be made Wednesday morning. He said if they can open up the showers, only lights and hot water will be provided, residents should bring their own soap, shampoo and towels, etc.

Mayoral Assistant Mark Bancroft said Town Hall will resume normal operations Wednesday along with the libraries and the Senior Center. Gov. Dannel Malloy extended . Bancroft said registrars will be available at the Town Hall.

Monday’s CL&P outage map was reporting that 67 percent of Ledyard customers were in the dark but that number rose to 82 percent by Tuesday night. The power outage numbers increased as the conditions improve, which has some residents saying “they’re going the wrong way.” McGucken explained that this occurs as CL&P identifies distressed wires, which may still be live, and turns them off to make repairs.

Public works and utility crews were out in force Tuesday and managed to open up most roads.

“Our goal for today was to get the blocked roads open,” said McGucken. “We’re not done yet but we’re making reasonable progress.”

The following roads are completely blocked at these locations:

Church Hill Road near Silas Dean

Silas Dean between St. Paul and Shewville Road

Colonel Ledyard Highway at Applewood

Colonel Ledyard Highway at Lambtown

All other roads mentioned in previous reports are clear or at least passable. These roads are expected to open up throughout the day.

Public works crews wrapped up around 7 p.m. Tuesday and can look forward to another full day of road clean up on Wednesday.