Community Corner

UPDATED: After Days Without Power, Frustration Begins in Middletown

Forty-three percent of CL&P customers are without electricity, heat and hot water.

Update: Middletown Public Schools Superintendent Michael Frechette says the following have power: Farm Hill, Woodrow Wilson Middle School, Snow, Middletown High and Macdonough.

Earlier version:

By midday Wednesday, Middletown was a city divided — into haves and have-nots. Those lucky enough to be among the 57 percent of CL&P households with power were pleased but hardly gloating. At Klekolo World Coffee, customers traded pleasantries and complaints about being cold and unshowered or happy they'd regained power.

Find out what's happening in Middletownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

At 1:15 p.m., 43 percent (9,887) of Middletown customers remained without power.

What snow remained on the ground this sunny day was quickly melting by noon as the temperature hit 56 degrees. With CL&P slowly but surely restoring power to parts of Middletown, residents have begun to express frustration with being in the dark since Sunday at 12:30 a.m. — and looking ahead to another night in the mid-to-low 30s.

Find out what's happening in Middletownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Sarah Duda lives in the Fernwood Apartments on Camp Street, where there's no power, heat or hot water. "My apartment is 51 degrees. I myself have a 5- and 3-year-old" who are staying with her 62-year-old mother in her apartment while she goes to work during the day in Old Saybrook.

"According to CL&P," Duda said, "we aren't expected to be fully back online until Sunday, November 6th, at midnight. I don't know what else to do."

One Patch reader who lives on South Main Street Tweeted just before 10 a.m., "Still no power at my house. NU, this means war!"

State Rep. Matthew Lesser, D-Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, who lives in that same area, is still without power. He observed there are "lots of folks without power particularly on the south end of town."

Another reader, a city worker who lives in condos near the south end of Main Street, said if she didn't have her 80-pound dog to sleep with at night, the cold would be unbearable. She agreed the situation is humbling. "I can live without electricity," she said, "but not heat."

The Middletown High School shelter remains open for showers, food, water and electrical charging. The Town Hall is offering electrical outlets as well.

"This morning by 10 a.m., we had 75 adults and 16 children, one of whom was an infant and six were under age 5," said Roxanne Heath of Hunter's Ambulance and the Middletown Department of Health.

There are plenty of cots left for sleeping, she said, and with each male and female locker room having four to six showers, folks may have to wait a bit to bathe, but the water is nice and hot. "We're rotating people in shifts right now."

For those residents who live closer to Cromwell, where outages affect 36 percent of CL&P customers, Fred Curtin from Emergency Management Services said, "the shelter is open and was moved to town hall when the power came back up.

"It's open 24-7 and nobody's being turned away. We've got hot showers and hot food." He said capacity was 150 people and by 1 p.m. there were 20 people at the shelter.

CL&P issued a statement at 12:30 p.m. that up to 150,000 more customers should have power within 24 hours.

Middletown Patch readers have supplied the following information:

  • South Main Street near Pameacha River to the hospital is out.
  • CL&P trucks restore power to Grand Street and Clinton Avenue at 11:15 a.m., head to Pinewood Terrace.
  • We got power last night at 7 p.m. at Bidwell Terrace!
  • Spring Street near the bridge was restored Monday night.
  • Looking for a hot meal? Welcome Table Wednesday at Christ Lutheran Church, 300 Washington St., will be open and serving hot pasta to-go only from 5-7 p.m.
  • I have power on Fairview, my mom doesn't at Stonegate Apartments. No Internet yet!
  • Still no power on Millbrook Road!
  • Upper Ridge Road has power! Coming home tonight.Yeah!
  • No power on South Main in area of Citizens Bank.
  • We live on Farm Hill, got power Tuesday at 4 a.m. ... but, I still feel terrible for those without the heat!!!
  • No power on Park Place. Entire North End has power except small section west of High and south of Liberty.
  • Just heard Arbutus has power.

New England Emporium Eatery & Marketplace will reopen Thursday.

Middletown Area Transit is offering free bus rides to the high school shelter.

The American Red Cross is asking trained and registered volunteers to assist in storm-related operations or go to offices in Farmington, Bethel or Waterford daily from 8-10 a.m.

Russell Library remained closed Wednesday. Lights were still out on the portion of Broad Street from Washington to at least Court Street.

When Middletown Patch asked readers if they're angry over , the response was:

  • Yes! I'm [perturbed]!
  • I'm angry that they do such a poor job maintaing the lines. I live off of Randolph and the power lines on my street are covered in trees.
  • No, I am grateful for the diligent efforts and long hours of the many crew members who are willing to leave their families for a week or more to restore power. It is an enormous outage, and takes time to restore.
  • If CL&P had been run using power utility "best practices" for the past 10 years to operate, our rates would be lower and everyone's power would be back on by now. Instead, they have become slaves to pleasing Wall Street stockholders by slashing costs, eliminating preventative maintenance, and cutting payroll to the bone and beyond.

211.org offers winter storm and shelter information, including open drug stores, gas stations, shelter information and school closings.

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