The Berlin
Cit itiz ize en
Volume 15, Number 44
Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Oct. 29, 2011 Storm Alfred
Freak snow storm leaves huge mess By Olivia L. Lawrence The Berlin Citizen
Citizen photo by Olivia L. Lawrence
This scene from the intersection of Robbins Road and Lawndale Street was repeated by scores or more in towns across Connecticut causing widespread power outages of historic proportions. line crews are dedicated to addressing the most critical system problems which include 44 transmission lines. Berlin experienced nearly 70 percent without power at the height of the storm; however, by Monday portions were back in business, including Town Hall and portions of downtown. McNair said an unprecedented 28 people took advantage of a shelter set up at
McGee Middle School. She said it was likely that more should avail themselves of the shelter — and eventually might — if the crisis continues. On Robbins Road, a man said he was looking in on his 94 year-old neighbor who chose to remain home despite the power loss in their area. The man said he had a See Storm, page 5
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“It’s as bad as it’s ever been,” said Town Manager Denise McNair, giving a quick assessment of the freak snow storm that hit Berlin, along with the state and region, overnight Oct. 29. Everywhere you looked power lines were tangled with trees. Yards full of broken trees were more common than not and debris was piled along roadsides with heaps of snow. With traffic lights out in areas and trees and wires encroaching on roads, traffic moved slowly through affected parts of town. “It was a perfect storm,” said one Town Hall employee referring to conditions that made this a disaster of historic proportions — although at this time, locally, no deaths or major destruction of property was reported. A combination of trees that still held their leaves, high winds and as much as 10 inches of wet, heavy snow caused widespread damage and power outages. Nearly everyone in central Connecticut was affected at some point — or continues to struggle to get back to normal as the week wears on. CL&P spokesperson Mitch Gross reports that damage assessment is underway after “the rare October nor’easter that left more than 831,000 customers without power.” Gross said damage was five times as great as occurred during Tropical Storm Irene. Outages could last more than a week. Repairing central Connecticut was a complicated process, he said and damage from the storm was far more extensive than forecasted. Specialized
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