Stamford Five Customers Away From 100% Power Restoration [Update]

Update 2:15pm (Monday)

With CL&P crews working tirelessly to achieve their goal of having 100% power restoration by Monday night, the number of their Stamford customers in need of power has dropped to just five. It's been a herculean effort by CL&P, which states they have more than 54, 000 customers in the city.

Update 9:00am (Monday)

And then there were 17. CL&P reports they are just 17 of their customers away from having 100% power restoration to all 54,698 of its customers in Stamford.

Update 12:30pm (Sunday)

CL&P says that only 127 of its more than 54,000 customers in Stamford are without power. The utility company hopes to have 100% power restoration by 11pm on Sunday

Update Saturday 9 a.m.

Just .74 percent of CL&P's customers in Stamford have no power.

Here's where to report storm damage.

Here is some information for reporting hurricane damage, tips for and .

The first day for all students is Tuesday, September 6. The ROSCCO before and after school program will begin Wednesday, September 7.

All Stamford public libraries will be closed Sunday and Monday.

Here are the hours of operation on Saturday:

• Main Branch: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Weed Memorial Branch: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• South End Branch: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Harry Bennett Branch: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Update, Friday 10:43 a.m.

At last check, 1,624 CL&P customers in Stamford — or 2 percent of town — were without power.

Update, Thursday, 1:54 p.m.

Stamford is one of several regions in Connecticut where less than 10% of the populace has post-Irene power outages, according to a report by CL&P.

While 3,517 residents are still without power, it is expected that Stamford's outage rate will drop to zero by Sunday.

220,391 Connecticut citizens are still without power, which is roughly 17% of Connecticut; considered to be a very high outage rate given the time that has passed since Hurricane Irene.

No single area in CT currently has more than 5,000 customers without power.

The office of Mayor Pavia was unavailable to comment on the impact that public outcry and motivation from his office had on the CL&P's repair efforts in Stamford.

Update, Tuesday, 3:55 p.m.

Despite media and political scrutiny over their handling of Connecticut's current power crisis, CL&P has managed to restore power to over 10,000 homes within the past 22 hours.

Patch readers have suggested through topic discussion boards that CL&P's slow response to power restoration may be due to customer demand vs. CL&P manpower.

"More than 20 CL&P crews arrived in Stamford yesterday," the office of Mayor Pavia announced yesterday in a press release.

In total, an estimated 387,650 Connecticut residents are still without power, a far lower number than the 600,000 reported Sunday evening by CL&P.

Update, Monday, 6:00 p.m.

According to a press release from the office of Mayor Pavia, more homes and businesses are reporting restored power, and Stamford residents have been quick to move past Hurricane Irene.

"Stamford was reporting approximately 52% of the City was without power. As of this afternoon, the outages are closer to 40%. Those numbers are expected to fluctuate as grids are powered down for repairs, and then restored," the mayor's official press release states.

Stamford residents, who were populating the streets well-before the official end of Pavia's curfew, have returned to typical life, regardless of their home electricity status.

"It's been extremely busy," Ferguson Main Branch librarian Elizabeth Joseph said. "People have been coming in to charge their devices."

Stamford's designated emergency shelter at Stamford High School remains open for the third day, providing temporary housing for Laurel House refugees and Stamford residents without power alike.

Teresa Manchester, a visitor from Chicago that was trapped in Stamford by Hurricane Irene, still occupies the facility and maintains that "it's been interesting.

Stamford residents appear to be divided on the impact of Hurricane Irene. While most have suffered only minor damage in the form of fallen trees in an empty backyard or downed power lines on a street, Irene's damage varies by the location.

"There's a tree on my roof," said a Red Cross volunteer from Glenbrook. "The people at Holly Pond have had their houses flooded."

Volunteers also indicated that North Stamford residents who use wells as a primary water source currently have no water.

"We've had a few come in from North Stamford," a Stamford High shelter volunteer said.

However, various SHS sports teams practiced in the fields behind SHS for most of the afternoon, training and enjoying themselves as if Hurricane Irene never occurred at all.

 “I believe that we are making progress; we certainly recognize the enormous magnitude of the storm damage all along the east coast. With schools scheduled to open later this week, please know that
we are working as quickly as possible to make that happen,” Pavia said.

According to the mayor's office, Stamford's parks, beaches, and marinas are open for everything, swimming being the exception.

Original Story

Mayor Michael Pavia has issued a press release in which he elaborates upon his discontent with CL&P's response to the estimated 21, 615 power outages in Stamford.

“Our plans to restore power as quickly as possible relied on the information supplied to us by CL&P representatives on Friday," Pavia said.  "However, based on an inexplicable diversion of resources, CL&P crews assigned to the city of Stamford will now be on a more limited basis.”

CL&P has informed Pavia that it "could be a full week before power is completely restored." Meanwhile, local fast food restaurants, cafes, libraries, and laundromats are packed to capacity as Stamford residents deal with power outages at home and in neighborhood grocery stores.

“As the economic engine of the State, I find the situation CL&P leaves us in to be completely unacceptable," Pavia said.