Mayor Urges Residents To Prepare For Long Time Without Power

Mayor Adam Salina has not had power at his Kensington home since early Sunday morning.

He has played board games and he bought all three of his daughters headband flashlights so that they can run around the darkened basement of his house.

Today, with the weather being absolutely gorgeous, the girls helped dad pick up sticks in the yard. 

"They are just about to go crazy tonight though," Salina said with a laugh. "They have never had to spend this much time together without some other form of distraction. And neither have their parents."

Half the people in town did not have power as of 3 p.m. Monday. The Town Hall does not have power and neither does the library. The Police Station runs an a different connection and is set for routine and emergency calls. It is fully operational. 

Berlin High School has power and Hubbard may have power according to Salina but McGee, Willard and Griswold do not. School is supposed to open Wednesday but that date is in jeopardy as it all depends on the speed of CL&P crews now.

"I went out and bought a big cooler and 35 pounds of ice," Salina said. "People are calling me asking how long it is going to be and why they don't see any trucks around? CL&P is out accessing the damage right now and from what I've heard they are starting down at the shore and going in the same direction the storm went in, from south to north through the state. 

"I remember how long the power was out during Gloria and that was 500,000 customers. They have a lot more than that out now so I know it's going to take time. I guess the frustrating part is that the town has done a great job getting the trees off the power lines and securing things. We are ready for CL&P to go to work but we'll have to wait and see. It's not going to be  a matter of hours but a matter of days."

Stay tuned to Berlin Patch for the latest on school openings and power outages.