Twenty Percent of Avon CL&P Customers without Power

Thirteen percent of Connecticut Light & Power Customers in Avon are without power as of 6:46 p.m. in the aftermath of Irene, which is now being called a tropical storm and not a hurricane.

That makes 1,810 people in Avon of 651,994 statewide, as of 8:11 p.m. How long will it take to get the power back?

CL&P said that it could take a week to restore power for the entire state. It is not clear at this time where Avon falls within this spectrum.

There were some downed power lines in town, including Waterville Road and Burnham Road, which are both currently blocked off due to live wires.

Many neighborhoods off of West Avon Road and Arch Road lost power to a tree that snapped in half and fell on the power lines on West Avon between Arch Road and Woodmont Road. Camlynn Miller-Stevens, whose family owns Miller Foods, said that she lost power.

The First Company Governor's Horse Guards headquarters was also without power as of late afternoon, but the troopers prepared in advance and filled several buckets full of water.

Corporal Rosemary Aldridge, of Canton, came to help out with the horses Sunday since she lives nearby. She said that the horses were safe during their storm in the halls and horse guards were at the facility at 7:30 a.m. to look after them. They were sent home early, and Aldridge, Sgt. Greg DeManche and Staff Sgt. Eric  Kaneko volunteered to come in later in the day. Troopers were "constantly checking the fence line" for fallen branches.

"Bad weather is not a problem," Aldridge said in terms of horse safety in the barn, but the bigger issue was making sure the horses had enough water in the event of a power outage.

DeManche said each horse needs to drink at least 10 gallons of water a day. The Horse Guards have ten horses, which meant they needed 100 gallons of water. Aldridge said they filled up buckets, putting two buckets in each horse stall at a time.

Denise Monte, who lives further down on Arch Road, said that she has been without power since 8 a.m. She went for a walk before 3 p.m after being couped up inside all day.

"I just needed to get outside," Monte said.

Prior to the storm and after the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford, where she works, canceled school for Monday, she headed to Vermont to stay with her family. She was there all summer, until back-to-school training on Thursday and Friday, helping out at the family chocolate store in Arlington, VT, called The Village Peddler. They advised that she come home, so she returned late Saturday night.

Monte was concerned her home would flood, as it usually does when their was a lot of rain, but there has been no problem so far.

Arch Road runs on well water, so Monte filled her tub Saturday night, made sure to shower before bed, and she has used the tub water for flushing her toilet. Monte said she drinks a lot of bottled water anyways and normally buys a lot of fruits and vegetables, so her grocery shopping list was not much different than usual.

For entertainment during the power outage, Monte has been reading The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson.

Even with a power outage, Monte said she thought there was "way too much hype" and she was "really tired of hearing about it." She said that she wished the radio stations would play more music instead of talking so much about the storm.

Running water is available at all of the town's fire stations for residents that need water.

Editor's Note: Avon Patch will provide updates on the power situation as more information becomes available.