Update at 2:21 p.m.
Oxford Resident Trooper Sgt. Dan Semosky said a large number of people in Oxford's south side are now without power.
He said he did not have the exact amount but that fallen tree limbs have caused major power outages along the south side, from roughly the area of Old State Road No. 67 to the Seymour town line. A tree limb fell along an electrical wire, which burned along Old State Road No. 67 around 2:20 p.m. Monday.
"Much of the lower south part of town is without power; we don't know the exact number of outages at this point, but this is the start of it," he said.
He reitterated that people should stay inside. "There are trees dropping and wires are coming down," he said. "It's dangerous out there. Stay off all roads and stay indoors."
CL&P's website still listed the number of outages as 13 in Oxford. It is being updated regularly.
Original Article:
It seems the number 13 really is unlucky for some Oxford residents.
Connecticut Light & Power just announced that the first power outages in town have been reported and there are 13 power outages in town.
Oxford has 5,276 CL&P customers, so .25 percent of power customers in town are down as of 1:44 p.m. Statewide, 20,703 CL&P customers were out.
Oxford Fire Chief Scott Pelletier, the town's emergency management director, said the Oxford outages are at Old Litchfield Turnpike and Sheldon Drive; also, electric wires were recently pulled off a house near Swan Lake. He said CL&P crews are out trying to restore power, but that once winds reach 40 mph, crews cannot extend their bucket trucks (or cherry pickers) in the air.
"Right now, from what I can see, the highest wind gust we've seen has been 32 mph," he said at 1:35 p.m.
He expects power outages to be widespread throughout town.
"We're kind of in a waiting pattern right now," he said, adding that emergency crews are prepared.
- The emergency operations center at the Department of Public Works building is open and running
- A CL&P tree crew is stationed at DPW with Oxford officials
- All fire stations and the EMS headquarters are manned
- The emergency shelter at Oxford High School is set up and ready to be opened when there are widespread power outages.
Pelletier does not expect flooding along the Housatonic to be a problem as it has been in previous storms.
"That's because we're not getting that much rain at this point," he said. "We hope that projection sticks."
Pelletier said he will keep us updated with information as it becomes available. We will update you once we hear from him and/or other Oxford officials.
