Editor's Note: The governor's order says nothing about Routes 42, 67 and 34, as our astute reader Will Wilkin points out. Thank you will. Read the order here. In any case, local officials urge people to stay off all roads. Thank you.
Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy today ordered road closures for all state highways. The closures will be implemented in two phases.
- At 11 a.m., trucks will be prohibited from operating on limited access highways.
- At 1 p.m., state highways will be closed to all non-emergency related vehicles.
Oxford Resident Trooper Sgt. Dan Semosky urges all residents to stay off of all roads.
"Right now, we have trees, down, wires down; this is the real deal," he said at 11:45 a.m. As of 11:49 a.m. Monday, no Oxford Connecticut Light & Power customers were without power, according to CL&P's website.
A 15-inch diameter tree is down across Chestnut Tree Hill Road near Andrew Mountain and the road is fully impassible at this point, Semosky said. He also said there are wires down at Autumn Ridge Road and Riggs Street.
"It appears this is going to be the worst case scenario," he said. "We expect winds to be very heavy; do us a favor and do yourselves a favor by staying off the roads."
Malloy said residents need to take the storm very seriously.
"Beginning in the next several hours, wind gusts will begin to exceed 50 m.p.h., making traveling along our roads – especially wooded areas like the Merritt Parkway – very dangerous," he said. "We’re doing this in two phases, so that trucks will first be prohibited and then all non-emergency vehicles. If you’re in a non-evacuation area, stay home."
