Emergency Declared in Simsbury Following Hurricane Sandy

Simsbury town officials declared a state of emergency following massive power outages the town suffered during Hurricane Sandy Monday night.

After a morning meeting of the Simsbury Emergency Management Team, officials declared a "local emergency" effective 9:10 a.m.

Thousands of Simsbury residents were without power this morning after strong winds from Hurricane Sandy grazed the region.

Downtown Simsbury was quiet Tuesday morning after winds from the storm toppled trees and took down power lines on Hopmeadow Street and Firetown Road.

See the video footage here.

According to Connecticut Light and Power there are currently 4,190 power outages reported in Simsbury or 41 percent of the utility's Simsbury customers.

Hopmeadow Street (Rte. 10) is closed to traffic between Massaco Street and Drake Hill Road after a large tree in front of Vincent's Funeral Home came crashing down on top of the power lines.

Residents reported losing power shortly before 8 p.m. and readers on the _Simsbury Patch Facebook page_ said they heard the transformers explode before everything went dark.

Herb Neuhauser, who lives on Owens Place in downtown, said he lost power at 7:15 p.m. Neuhauser came out Tuesday morning to assess the damage.

"To come out here and see that this is like this and nobody's around, it's just beyond comprehension," Neuhauser said. "Thousands of people are out of electricity because of this, just this right here."

Many residents took the walk to see the massive tree that fell across from the Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company's main station and cut thousands out of the electrical grid.

Town officials report that Public Works and Safety personnel worked with CL&P crews through the night and managed to ensure that safety vehicles had access to residents in the event of an emergency.

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“We should be proud of our emergency operations team,” Deputy First Selectman John Hampton said.  “We made it through the worst of the storm without serious safety problems.”

Town officials are asking residents to continue to shelter in place.  Residents who are unable to remain in their homes should contact the Town at (860) 658-3230 so that shelter arrangements can be made by Social Services.

Food supplies and cell phone charging can be obtained at SimsburyTown Hall beginning at 12:00noon today.  Potable water is also available at Town Hall, the Firetown and West Simsbury Fire Stations. 

In addition, Health Tracks (860-284-1190) has offered to provide showers to residents without power. 

“We’re counting on neighbors to reach out to one another as they did in last year’s storm,” Hampton said.  “We are grateful to Health Tracks and many other organizations for reaching out to residents – if you have power, you’re in a position to help.” 

Information about open grocery stores and power stations will be added to the Town’s website throughout the day.

Do you have any trees down that you'd like the town to know about? Did you make it through the storm with power? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.