Recent Storm Brings Power Outages and a Little Humor to Guilford
The nor’easter that battered the Connecticut shoreline last week left thousands in Guilford without power, took down numerous trees, and caused major disruptions for most residents. However, as residents waited out the storm, emergency crews did their best to clean up the town, keep residents informed, and bring a little levity to an otherwise unpleasant situation.
When the storm first hit mid-week, Eversource reported nearly 6,000 Guilford residents were without power, making Guilford one of the hardest hit towns in the region. As of Monday, March 12, First Selectman Matt Hoey said Eversource was reporting just a few residents still without power.
While Hoey said he knows the outages are frustrating and difficult for residents, the statewide policy for response after a storm means ensuring safety first and restoring power second.
“I think local personnel response was exceptional,” he said. “We had a significant number of trees down and the challenge in the immediate aftermath of these storms is restoration efforts are secondary. The primary concern is safety and that is basically getting roads opened, getting the downed power lines shut off, so a significant portion of our efforts were on what they call ‘make safe’ efforts.”
Hoey said the town works with Eversource to make sure the power is off on the downed power lines so that the roads can then be cleared and emergency crews can get through. He said Eversource was in town early on Thursday morning because it was too dangerous for them to start work in the middle of the storm. Hoey said there was only one team out during the storm.
“Our public works folks were out there...clearing trees on roads where wires were not involved,” he said.
As people clean up after the storm, many residents have been asking on social media why Guilford seems to be hit particularly hard in regards to number of outages after a storm. Hoey said Guilford’s infrastructure isn’t any different from neighboring towns; he said the problem is linked to geography.
“We are both a coastal town and then a heavily wooded community as well,” he said. “We get big winds and one of the charms of Guilford is the beautiful scenic roads that we have which are tree-lined scenic roads. Our natural setting doesn’t help during a storm.”
Hoey said people listened to emergency personnel during the storm, a great asset during recovery efforts. While there is no solid evidence that humor makes people listen to instructions, the Guilford Police Department’s Facebook page was filled with posts during the storm that were both informative and funny.
The posts started on March 6 with a wanted poster for Old Man Winter. The suspect was listed as approximately 4.5 billion years old, last seen in New England, and wanted for harassment of Guilford residents, illegally dumping snow on sidewalks and roads, causing truancy, and tampering with utilities among other crimes.
The post was the first warning of the incoming storm, and was followed by numerous posts poking fun at the rather broad snow estimates put forward by meteorologists. When the storm finally hit and hit hard, police came out with this response.
“We have to admit that this storm has finally lived up to its hype. Well played, weatherman...well played. Status update: The roads: Don’t go out. Trees and power lines are down everywhere. Just stay home and get to know your family without electronics…”
As clean up efforts began, police in posts kept residents updated on road closures, asked for residents to report roads that were blocked, gave power updates, and emergency service updates. On March 8, the police Facebook posts kept the humor rolling:
“…We would like to thank everyone for being so patient.... we know this has been very difficult. We would also like to thank the countless people who have not only stopped to say “thanks” but also offered water and food to the crews working.... especially those with Girl Scout cookies.
“It is times like these we realize how lucky we are to work in this beautiful town.
“Thank you for sharing and stay warm.
“P.S. Not sure if it is true.... but we heard Thin Mints are the key to a lineman’s heart.”
The posts kept people laughing on social media and were shared dozens and dozens of times, helping to keep large groups of residents informed throughout the storm.
With another storm heading this way, a police post jokingly said they are preparing warrants for anyone who mentions the word ‘nor’easter’ but also continued to remind residents of important safety procedures during each storm.
On a serious note, one post did ask residents to remember one important thing during a storm, “Please don’t yell at our dispatchers... they are working really hard to relay the info to us in addition to other emergencies in town.”