In Her Own Words: First Selectman Mary Glassman's Testimony Before the Two Storm Panel

First Selectman Mary Glassman gave testimony on Tuesday before the eight-member group Gov. Dannel P. Malloy created to review the preparedness, response and recovery efforts of the state and its partners — including the utilities and municipalities — related to Tropical Storm Irene and the October Nor’easter. The group will present to Malloy a set of recommendations on how these efforts can be improved.

Additional information on the Two Storm Panel, including past announcements, meeting agendas and minutes, can be found at http://governor.ct.gov/workinggroups.

Mary Glassman Testimony – Tuesday, November 15, 2011

I would like to thank members of the Storm Panel for your service — and Governor Malloy for providing municipal officials a chance to share our experiences from recent Storm Alfred. As hearty New Englanders, we know that severe weather events are part of the New England experience. However, it is absolutely essential that we learn immediately from this past storm event — so together, we are better prepared for the next emergency.

We know that the goal of protecting the public safety and health of the people of Connecticut is shared by our state and local officials, emergency responders and utility officials. That is the spirit in which we testify today.

There is no question that Simsbury and our neighboring Farmington Valley towns were among the hardest hit in Connecticut. From the moment the storm hit on Saturday, October 29 until power was finally restored to the last Farmington Valley customers on Thursday, November 10 — nearly 13 days later — thousands of customers were left in the dark, in many cases stranded in their homes for days by down trees and wires without any accurate information as to when power restoration would occur.

As difficult as it was for customers to be without power, the town’s top priority from Day 1 was public safety. We had hundreds of residents who were completely inaccessible by emergency personnel for days. We communicated that dire situation to CL&P immediately and evacuated by foot residents whose homes were damaged. When utility crews were not dispatched to address our safety concerns, the town — two days after the storm — called upon the National Guard. It was only when the National Guard arrived on Thursday that progress was made and more than 100 closed streets were made accessible.

I cannot emphasize how frustrating it was for 100 percent of our town to be completely in the dark for four straight days — Simsbury has 10,107 CL&P customers, including nursing homes, businesses and homes. For the first two days of the disaster, Simsbury and the Farmington Valley towns reported only one crew assigned to each town. It was not until Thursday, November 3 — Day 6 of the disaster — that the towns could confirm that crews were working in our communities. By Thursday, Farmington, Avon and Simsbury still had between 97 percent and 85 percent of CL&P customers without power. Meaningful increases in crews took place on Day 7 of the disaster when upper-level CL&P officials began meeting regularly with the Farmington Valley towns collectively. On Saturday — Day 8 of the storm — CL&P admitted the damage was much greater than they were aware and called the damage “cataclysmic.”

We would like to share 10 lessons learned from the Simsbury experience:

• Local Emergency Operations Plans Work: Simsbury is fortunate to have local Fire Marshal Kevin Kowalski as our Emergency Management Director. Mr. Kowalski is to be commended for overseeing the town’s detailed emergency disaster plan, for conducting regular emergency drills and for encouraging the emergency response team — including myself — to receive emergency preparedness training. The town’s Public Safety Committee also meets monthly with local emergency responders including a CL&P liaison. Our local plan worked. Within six hours of the storm, the town opened its emergency shelter. Within 24 hours, the town activated its Emergency Operations Center and declared a state of emergency. The town was in disaster mode with more than 100 roads inaccessible by fire, police and ambulance and that information was quickly communicated to CL&P.   
• Rely on Local Volunteers: During the 13-day event, Simsbury provided shelter to 7,423 people and provided 5,960 meals. The town called on upon everyone to help during the disaster. Local police, fire and ambulance worked around the clock. The Ladies Auxiliary, Chamber of Commerce, and Rotary served meals and provided comfort. Town staff became a huge asset to our community — with library and parks and recreation personnel running programs as a way to encourage families to feel comfortable coming to the shelter. 
• Accurate Information is Essential to Make Decisions and to Inform Our Residents: During the 13-day storm event, Simsbury and the Farmington Valley received little accurate information as to the number of crews working and the timeframe for restoration. While CL&P did have a liaison who regularly worked with our Public Safety Committee and Emergency Operations Team, this liaison was reassigned and replaced with a new liaison. We would suggest the municipal liaison system works better with continuity during an emergency.
• Give Us the Bad News First: The towns communicated the severe nature of the situation immediately to CL&P liaisons and the town’s priorities. Despite our concerns, CL&P communicated their plan for 99 percent restoration by Sunday, November 6 even though Simsbury outages remained at 55 percent. By early Sunday, it was clear the goal was not attainable. Yet that was the information communicated to our residents. It is absolutely essential that towns receive accurate information upon which to make decisions such as shelter operations, school delays. We need honest assessments of restoration timeframes. 
• Don’t Leave Other Utility Companies Out of the Loop: While CL&P is the focus of the storm review, other utility companies including AT&T as well as cable companies need to be part of the emergency operations plan. It was not until Day 8 of the storm event that the Farmington Valley towns finally heard from communications company representatives about restoration plans.
• Prioritize Making Streets Safe: In the past, CL&P crews were dispatched to work with town public works crews. During this storm, CL&P crews worked independently. Town crews ready to remove debris were paralyzed by the lack of qualified line crews needed to make roads safe. We don’t understand why the utility company moved away from past practices which always worked well.
• Regional Collaboration is Critical to Success: Working collaboratively with the other Farmington Valley towns proved to be a highly successful way of engaging CL&P and identifying regional priorities. 
• Address Medical Needs: During the nine days that Simsbury operated its emergency shelter, the town was overwhelmed with frail and medically compromised residents. Some residents were released from local hospitals directly to the town shelter. Others — including those with Alzheimer and incontinence — required medical attention not available from volunteers. It is important to look at the best facility to handle the medically needy during an emergency.
• Clarify the Role of the American Red Cross: Given the overwhelming numbers of families needing shelter and the extended period of time, the town contacted the Red Cross on Monday, Day 3. The Red Cross took over shelter operations during the last two days. We would suggest that discussion is needed over regional shelters.
• Use Town Resources Better: The tragedy in all of this is that Simsbury and other towns had resources available to help from the very beginning — if we had been provided with the right information, we could have helped to make our streets safe, to clear our roads and to shorten the timeline for restoration of power. In spite of these challenges, I am proud of the way our town and the other towns in the Farmington Valley responded in the face of a crisis. Because we were prepared, we were able to take the steps necessary to secure the safety of our residents. We look forward to working with all of you and to being part of the solution.