Eversource, UI crews restore power across Connecticut after weekend nor'easter

Strong winds from a weekend nor’easter knocked trees and branches into power lines across Connecticut, leaving thousands of customers without electricity and prompted utility crews to work around the clock on restoration efforts.

Lyme was among the communities most affected by the storm. At one point, thousands of customers there were without electricity. Town officials said the widespread outage was mainly caused by an issue at a substation in nearby Essex.

“A lot of trees have fallen, and this has been a significant event,” Lyme resident George Kendall said.

Kendall was among those who lost power as the storm brought powerful winds to the area.

“This is one that stuck around. A lot of them come roaring through and then that’s it,” Kendall said.

Lyme resident Tom Wilson also lost electricity.

“We lost power so it’s not too convenient,” Wilson said.

The public library provided a place for some residents to use Wi-Fi and wait while crews worked to restore electricity.

“Hopefully soon, we’ll have power,” Wilson said.

Some homes in the Lyme area relied on generators during the outage.

“You need some alternative power source unless you want to be out of business. I never had a generator before, but I’m glad I have one now,” Kendall said.

United Illuminating, which serves shoreline communities including New Haven and Milford, said it had restored power to 25,000 customers by Sunday afternoon.

“…our crews have been clearing debris, addressing downed wires, and making repairs,” Angela Baccaro, a UI spokesperson, said.

Eversource said its crews worked to restore power to more than 146,000 customers during the same period, including customers in Lyme. The utility brought in additional crews to assist with the response.

“We have hundreds of line and tree crews out there working. We brought in out of state crews as well as outside crews to complement our own internal crews. So, they are all working 24/7 to restore power for all customers,” Eversource spokesperson Jamie Ratliff said.

The number of customers affected continued to decline on Eversource’s outage map as restoration work progressed.

“They’re making repairs and will continue to do so until everyone affected by this storm has their power back,” Ratliff said.