By James Lomuscio

Westport Fire Chief Andrew Kingsbury said tonight that power is slowly returning to Westport with less than 20 percent of the town’s more than 12,000 Connecticut Light & Power Company (CL&P) customers still off the grid.

While good news for some, it is sure to draw a different kind of “boo” this Halloween night from those still in the dark, as well as the town’s children who were advised by town officials not to trick or treat in the wake of Saturday’s nor’easter that left downed wires and felled branches.

Kingsbury noted that while outages were spotty throughout town, homes along the shoreline fared much better due to a warmer climate compared to those north of the Merritt Parkway where many leafy branches had snapped under the weight of snow.

“We recently had power restored to the Redcoat Road and Hermit Lane area,” he said.

President Obama, acting on a request by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, has declared an emergency in Connecticut because of Saturday’s storm.

He ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response to the Halloween eve storm.

Under the declaration, certain storm-related expenses by the state and municipalities will be eligible for federal reimbursement at 75 percent.

Malloy told municipal leaders in conference calls over the weekend that officials from the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) were already in the state’s emergency operations center in Hartford in anticipation of the declaration.

Westport Firefighter Rich Calabria today cordons off Highwood Road, near Cavalry Road, from No. 7 to No. 20 after responding to a call that a large tree fell across power lines blocking the street which has been without power since Saturday. Neighbor Jackquie Marumoto of nearby Highwood Lane said she saw the town’s new emergency incident map on WestportNow which led her to notify authorities. She said she was surprised no one apparently had called in the downed tree earlier. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Westport’s Public Library was crowded today with Westporters without power taking advantage of its WiFi service. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Town officials and local emergency management personnel determined it would not be safe for trick or treat activities tonight, and urge parents and children to postpone trick or treating until Saturday, November 5.

There are significant safety risks, according to a press release from the Westport Fire Department, because wires remain down and there are hundreds of damaged trees and downed branches throughout Westport.

“The possibility of falling tree limbs, slippery surface conditions, and electrocution hazards remain very real throughout town, and the situation is as bad or worse than the recent damage caused by tropical storm Irene,” according to the Fire Department.

Toddlers were transformed into bears and other creatures at today’s Westport Public Library Toddler Mother Goose and Rhythm & Rhyme programs. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Marcia Logan for WestportNow.com

First Selectman Gordon Joseloff said today the Town of Westport is making every effort to restore power to residents, but the enormity of the outages statewide is hampering Connecticut Light & Power Company’s ability to respond.

“Just like Irene, we fared a bit better than many other communities in the storm, but the severity and extent of the outages statewide are hampering CL&P’s ability to rapidly address our relatively limited outages,” he said.

“We are making every effort to restore power to residents but it could be days or more before everyone is back. CL&P is warning it could be a week or more to restore the state.”

Joseloff said most of Westport’s streets are open and passable with crews still working to clear remaining roadways.