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News
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Power Out to Thousands; Restoration Could Take Days
UPDATE More than half of Westport’s homes were without power today as clean up got under way from a rain and wind storm that left one person dead. Utility officials said full restoration could take several days.
Emergency responders work to remove a tree which fell on a car on Park Lane Saturday night, killing a New Jersey woman and injuring three sisters riding with her. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
Connecticut Light & Power Co. said at 7 p.m. 7,215 homes were in the dark, or 59 percent of its Westport customers.
The first crews from New Hampshire arrived in Westport in late afternoon and several trucks were immediately dispatched to Old Hill Road where energized wires had started a brush fire.
Police today identified the woman killed when a tree fell on her car on Park Lane Saturday night as Jennifer Thibault, 39, of Long Valley, N.J. She was driving with three of her sisters to visit a Westport relative, according to detectives.
A source familiar with the family said she was the mother of two young children.
Thibault was a teacher at the Zion Lutheran Church school, in Long Valley, N.J.
The three other women in the car managed to get out with injuries that were not life threatening, police said. They were taken to Norwalk Hospital.
Emergency management officials issued a CodeRed emergency telephone notification asking residents to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary.
“Many roads are blocked and there are live wires on the ground,” said First Selectman Gordon F. Joseloff. “Getting around Westport today is not only a nightmare but could be life threatening.”
Many residents were unable to get in or out of their driveways. Traffic lights along busy Post Road East were out in some spots as was power to nearby businesses.
In terms of the number of homes affected, longtime Westporters said it was the worst since Hurricane Gloria slammed into southern New England in 1985.
At Saturday night’s high tide, many roadways in the Compo Beach, Old Mill, and Saugatuck Shores areas were flooded. There was also some moderate flooding on Main Street and in Parker Harding Plaza along the Saugatuck River in Westport’s center.
The Westport Fire Department released this photo of its damaged ladder truck. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
In a news release, Deputy Fire Chief Jonathan Gottfried said the car hit by the tree on Park Lane was a late model Nissan Murano SUV.
“Three of the four victims were able to remove themselves from the vehicle prior to the arrival of the emergency services,” the department said. “However, the driver was trapped in the car and required extrication by responding firefighters. The driver succumbed to injuries at the scene.
“Westport Police, Westport EMS, and Public Works personnel, worked together to effect this rescue and attend to the three other victims of accident.”
Gottfried said the tree caused extensive damage to the roof of the vehicle.
Firefighters had to utilize chain saws to remove large sections of the tree before being able to use the “jaws of life” to gain access to the passenger compartment of the vehicle and reach the victim, he said.
At the time, winds were in excess of 65 miles per hour with driving rain, Gottfried said.
As the extrication effort was winding down, additional pine trees began falling due to the heavy wind, he said.
One tree hit a Society to Aid the Retarded (STAR) group home on Park Lane causing severe damage to the rear of the home.
Another tree fell on the department’s Truck 1, its 95-foot ladder truck, severely damaging the truck and narrowly missing firefighters assigned to it, Gottfried said.
A public works crew operating with the firefighters on the scene also narrowly missed being hit by the tree that hit the ladder truck, he said.
No clients were in the group home at the time the tree hit the roof, Gottfried said.
Residents of the home were transported by fire personnel to the evacuation shelter open at the Westport Center for Senior Activities, he said.
Comments: Comment Policy
I just want to offer a great big thank you to all our police, firemen, EMTs and whoever else was/is out there during this terrible storm and its aftermath. It seemed the sirens on the vehicles never stopped wailing during the night. Westport is so fortunate to have such a great team attending to the needs of the community under dire circumstances.
Janet Beasley
Amen!
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Note: WestportNow Publisher Gordon F. Joseloff is also First Selectman of Westport
