Middletown Shelter Beds Filled to Capacity; Schools Closed Again Tuesday

By 11 a.m., Monday, the city’s shelter at the high school was filled to capacity as hundreds of residents sought heat, food and a hot shower in the aftermath of a winter storm that left 93 percent of folks in the without electricity.

The city also canceled school for a second consecutive day on Tuesday.

Mayor Sebastian N. Giuliano, in a sweatshirt and day’s growth of facial hair, spoke with residents gathered in the high school cafeteria, his voice hoarse after hours of speaking over the voices of hundreds of men, women and children.

There, he filled them in on everything he knew just before he took part in a conference call with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

Giuliano said winter storm Alfred was “most definitely” worse than Hurricane Irene in late August.

“Irene was very different. The weather was good after Irene so people would come here, we had a day shelter going, nobody wanted to stay here at night because all they wanted to do was get a hot meal, get a shower, charge up their cell phone and go home — and it was warm. Now when you go home, it’s cold,” Giuliano explained.

He described the general mood among people as good at MHS. “I think people basically are in shock,” he said. “As long as we can provide services for them here, I think they’re all right, but two days of this and I think their nerves are going to get frazzled.”

In the café were those of all ages — children played cards or socialized, teens listened to their iPods and played on their Game Boys; as others read the newspaper and enjoyed lunch. One industrious young man brought along a power strip and so was able to charge his laptop, iPad, three cell phones and dvd player. Every single electric outlet was full.

Old Middletown High School resident Connie Vitale, 94, and her daughter Fran Vitale of Waterbury sat at a table with Connie’s fellow Court Street apartment neighbors Viola Porth and Jennie Augeri.

“This time, it turned the whole world upside down,” Augeri said “You can’t sleep, you’re freezing , it’s not as comfortable as you like it, but it’s better than nothing.”

Connie, who said, “I used to own Marino’s Restaurant in Middletown,” said it had been some two decades since she remembered losing power so substantially.

“Years ago, a long time ago,”

“Remember, Gloria?” Fran prompted her mother. “We had no power, we had a generator and we had a wedding and they wouldn’t leave because we had generator and our air conditioner blew off the roof,” Fran recalled. “Mother and daughter laughed as she continued, “We named the new air conditioner Gloria.”

LeShawn Jones of Newfield Street spent Sunday night at the shelter and planned to do the same Monday evening. She laughed while charging her electric wheelchair, but said she’s far from happy.

“At times like these, you’ve just got to laugh,” she said.

Himself without power, the mayor told folks when electricity was knocked out to the city early Sunday morning, 40 percent of households lost power.
“Within a half-hour, that number rose to 93 percent,” he said, incredulously.

After greeting one woman, “Glad you got here,” Giuliano explained the city’s situation.

“Let’s say you have no water in your house and you know you have leaks in the plumbing. If the water is stopped at the water main, you don’t know what leak to fix because you don’t know where they are because there’s no water coming through the system.”

“We don’t even know what the damage is to the local transmission.”

Town Clerk Sandra Russo-Driska and Ashley Flynn manned the table at the rear of the high school, taking down photo identification information to get them access to food, showers, and charging stations. Already they’d seen 50 folks check in.

State Rep. Matthew Lesser, D-Middletown, Middlefield and Durham, stopped by just before noon. “I don’t have any more power than anybody else,” the Middletown resident said.

On Sunday, knowing the majority of residents had no television, Internet or telephone service, the mayor said he and city treasurer Christine Bourne went door to door letting people know the shelter was open and where to catch a bus if needed.

“Yesterday, we went back to old school — we made copies of the press release and [Bourne] and I were out going to locations and physically distributing them.”

The mayor explained the status Sbona Towers, where many elderly residents live. Elevators are working, the kitchen has power but individual apartments are out.

“We’re going to try not to turn anybody away,” Giuliano said. “Once all the cots are taken, you may be able to stay here, but you’re not going to get a cot.”

Residents are able to take busses from Town Hall and the Senior Center, and should bring along a sleeping bag.

For information, call the mayor's office at (860) 344-3401, stop by City Hall on deKoven Drive or the Senior Center on William Street, or call (860) 347-0144.