VERNON, Conn. (NCC News) – Tropical Storm Isaias hit Connecticut on Tuesday, causing over half of the state to lose power, according to the state’s leading power company, Eversource Energy. Twenty four hours after the storm’s departure, roughly 40% of the state is still out of power, and 17% remained without power in the town of Vernon.
Eversource lists just under 475,00 customers without power as of Thursday night. Many people said the tropical storm had more of an affect than Hurricane Irene and Sandy.
One Vernon resident, John Bennet, has gone a day without power and could experience even further delays. In a Facebook post from Vernon Mayor Dan Champagne, he said it could take until at least the weekend for power to be restored in the town.
Keith Gordon, who lives in the Talcottville section of Vernon, heard a tree fall while eating dinner, and said his house shook and lost power. He also said it was worse than past hurricanes because of the damage done to his property.
“I’ve lived in the area 50 years, so several storms like this,” said Gordon. “Past storms, I wasn’t really affected by it, but now I am.”
The town of Vernon is still experiencing many outages caused by fallen trees on power lines. Eversource tweeted how severe the damage has been, likening it to Hurricane Sandy.
The impact Isaias had on the electric system is greater than Superstorm Sandy, and customers should plan for multiple days without power as crews work through extensive damage to make repairs. More information here: https://t.co/hF43Yz4Jw4 . (2/2) pic.twitter.com/ZbUXVSLIAb
— Eversource CT (@EversourceCT) August 5, 2020
There’s still no word on when the town will be fully back on power, but for Bennet, it’ll take a few more days to leave his house for an air-conditioned hotel.
“I think we would make it five days,” Bennet said. “Right now it’s not so much that if we could find a hotel room – that would be fine. The problem is the balancing with the COVID thing.”
Eversource said they are working quickly to restore power.
