SE CT Avoided the Worst of It

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy declared a state emergency Saturday evening as the number of residents without power in Connecticut swelled to about 700,000, and slick conditions from the season's first snowstorm wreaked havoc on the state's roads.

Wet, heavy snow from the nor'easter coupled with high winds on leaf-covered trees is the reason for the widespread damage and power outages throughout Connecticut.

Soon after the storm reached the area Saturday, there were more than 1,200 Ledyard homes without electricity, most of them in Gales Ferry. This morning the CL&P outage map showed only 339 without power, or about 5 percent of the town.

Still, about half of the towns in the state to the north and west were showing power outages of 80 percent or more.

A fatal crash was reported late Saturday on Route 85 in Colchester. As of 6 a.m., however, Ledyard Police reported no serious accidents. Still, motorists are advised to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary.

"Residents should stay off the roads right now, let the road crews get out there and get things cleaned up," said Malloy, who will provide an update this morning at 8:30. "We will begin the restoration and recovery phase as soon as possible, but right now I urge Connecticut residents to stay home and stay safe."

The state of emergency declaration provides the Governor with additional emergency powers that he may utilize in response to the storm. Earlier Saturday Malloy issued a ban of all non-emergency vehicles on the Wilbur Cross/Merritt Parkways. MetroNorth also was operating with delays.

The snowplows have been out in force in Ledyard. Saturday afternoon looked more like December than late October, except for all the campaign lawn signs, obscured by the earliest snowstorm in recent memory

Needless to say, it is very early for snow.

Gales Ferry residents without power Saturday stretched from Christy Hill Road to Lincoln Drive and included much of Birdland. "And your part of the state is the really unaffected part," said CL&P spokesman Mitch Gross. 

Patch reader Michelle Lake reported that power was restored to the Christy Hill/Crestview/Norman Drive area before 9 p.m. Saturday. At 11 p.m. the outage map showed some 700 customers without power. More than half of them were retored by morning.

The snow is expected to end this morning, giving way to sunny skies and warmer temperatures today that should melt most of the snow away in time for trick-or-treat.

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