[Updated] Bethel Estimated to be Fully Restored by 6 p.m. Monday

Editor's Note: This article will be updated as information is made avaliable. Check back for more updates about how Hurricane Irene is affecting Bethel.

Monday, Sept. 5, 11 a.m.
The First Selectman is now saying that 100 percent of Bethel customers should have power by 6 p.m. tonight, according to CL&P estimates. It is important for any Bethel resident still without power after 6 p.m. tonight to report that fact to CL&P at 1-800-286-2000. The municipal center will be open until 2 p.m. Monday for showers, water and charging and will return to normal operating hours starting Tuesday.

Monday, Morning of Sept. 5
As of 7 a.m., The First Selectman said CL&P reports power restored to 99.5 percent of Bethel residences, leaving 38 homes remaining to be reconnected. The company estimates 100 percent restoration in Bethel by Tuesday night. 

Sunday, Morning of Sept. 4 
From the First Selectman:
"As of Sunday, Sept. 4 at 6 a.m., CL&P reports power restored to 98.5 percent of Bethel’s 8,290 electric customers. 

This still leaves about 126 Bethel households without power. CL&P has advised us, unfortunately, that it could take a few days longer to clear these remaining outages.  The company explained that in a few areas they face more complex technical challenges, such as underground damage, which take longer to repair.  There may also be situations where power has been restored to the neighborhood, but possible damage at the connection or even inside individual homes will have to be located and repaired. 

Everyone who is still without power is encouraged to stay in contact with CL&P directly at 1-800-826-2000 to get a time estimate for repair.

The Bethel Municipal Center will be open today from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for water and hot showers." 

Saturday Morning
Bethel is now 94 percent restored of power. Again, CL&P estimates that 99 percent of the town will have power by midnight tonight.

The municipal center will remain open this weekend from 9 a.m to 2 p.m. for showers, charging and water and will be open Monday if any outages remain. 

Friday, 11 a.m.
From the First Selectman:

CL&P power restoration:

• "Power has been restored to 90 percent of Bethel customers; approximately 860 homes remain without power.
• CL&P expects to achieve 99 percent recovery by midnight Saturday.
• The company has increased the number of crews working in Bethel. As of this morning we have 6 tree clearing crews and 13 line repair crews. Rumors circulating on the internet that the company has run out of transformers are untrue. All crews are fully inventoried with the materials they need."
• Tree crews are working to clear all remaining blockages today.  Line crews will follow to repair damaged wires and transformers.
• Line crews are concentrating their efforts on the two remaining main circuits that feed Bethel, which contain most of the homes remaining without power."

Other information:

• "Until Bethel is brought back to 100 percent power, town hall will remain open for water and hot showers over the weekend from 9am to 2pm Saturday and Sunday.
• The transfer station is open for disposal of storm related materials. No permit needed.
• New information:  In addition to the note above, the transfer station has suspended all drop off charges for brush and storm related yard waste while cleanup from Irene continues.  Proof of residency is required." 

Friday Morning
As of this morning, there's 11 percent of Bethel residents without power. Today, CL&P crews will work on restoring power to the rest of the Nashville Road area and tree crews will begin work on Sky Edge, Walnut Hill and McNeil.

CL&P still estimates that power will be restored to the entire state by the middle of next week. 

Thursday, 8:30 p.m.
From the First Selectman:

• Power restored to 86% of town.
• About 1,000 homes remaining to be reconnected (about 14% of total).
• Roads fully cleared at Nashville, Nashville Extension and Taylor Ave.
• Power restored to all Nashville Ext. and Taylor Avenue homes, and along Nashville Road as far south as Mountain Orchard.  Power expected to be fully restored along Nashville by Friday.
• Line repair crew still working to restore power in Wolfpits area, but traffic signal is now working.
• CL&P tree crews will begin work on Sky Edge, Walnut Hill and McNeil Road on Friday, Sept. 2.  
• Municipal Center is still open from 7am to 9pm weekdays, and will be open on Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 2pm.  If coming to use showers before or after normal town hall hours, please use the back entrance by the gym. 

Thursday, 1:30 p.m.
The Bethel transfer station is now accepting materials, including spoiled food as a result of Irene, from all Bethel residents without the need to purchase a transfer station permit, from now through Saturday, Sept. 10. According to the first selectman's office, residents will need only to show a drivers license to prove residency in the town. The normal cost of .20 cents per pound will apply for solid waste. There is no charge for dropping off bottles, cans, newspapers, cardboard or electronic items to the recycling center. A full price schedule for other items, such as furniture and yard waste, as well as hours of operation can be found on the town's website. 

Thursday Morning
Latest First Selectman update:

• CL&P interactive outage map now shows power has been restored to 80% of Bethel customers (as of 9 a.m. about 19 percent without power).
• About 1,900 homes remain without power.
• Power restored to traffic signal at Greenwood and Chestnut intersection, as well as parts of surrounding neighborhood.
• More roads now open, but closures with heavily damaged trees and wires remain at Codfish, Sky Edge, Nashville Ext., Meadow Laneand Taylor Ave.
• Reminder:  Trees weakened by the storm and leaning on wires can still come down and create new outages.  Please be safe and stay well clear of these.  Report new outages to CL&P at 1-800-286-2000.

Wednesday, 4 p.m.
First Selectman Matthew Knickerbocker said, "CL&P crews have installed new utility poles and wires on Hoyts Hill Road and at Wolfpits and 302. Route 58 is fully cleared and open."

Wednesday, 11 a.m.
The latest from the First Selectman:

• "CL&P has made significant progress in Bethel since yesterday.  About half of affected homes have had power restored.  There are about 2,200 remaining homes waiting for power.
• CL&P has dedicated 8 crews to Bethel today, 2 tree clearing teams and 6 line repair teams. 
• Today's priority is to continue power restoration, as well as to complete clearing of the following roads:  Chestnut Ridge, Nashville and Route 58.  CL&P will move crews to clear the remaining closures as work is completed on these.
• Some trees that have been weakened by the storm are still falling.  If you see new problems, please report them directly to CL&P by calling 1-800-286-2000
• Town hall remains open for recharging phones, water distribution (please bring your own containers) and hot showers.  Hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m."

Midnight Wednesday
Bethel is now halfway to being completely restored with power, as 29 percent is left to go. CL&P said it hopes to have 99 percent of its customers across the state to have power back by Saturday.

Tuesday, 3 p.m.
According to the Office of Emergency Management some of the roads still closed in Bethel are Chestnut Ridge Road by 170, Taylor Ave, Nashville Road Extenstion, Route 58, Codfish Hill Extenstion. 

Also, here's a Tuesday update from the First Selectman: 

• "CL&P reports power restored to 1,400 Bethel customers since Monday morning; work continues to restore power to remaining 3,300 homes and businesses.
• CL&P has assigned additional crews to Bethel, some to continue clearing downed trees and wires and others to begin restoration process.  Experienced disaster relief crews have been brought in from Canada, Ohio, Michigan and Florida to increase CL&P's field work force.
• First day of school still tentatively set for Thursday, September 1st, but subject to power restoration and insuring bus routes have been fully cleared or effectively rerouted.
• Concerning the timeline for full service restoration, CL&P continues to stand by their original projection of one week or possibly more from the end of the storm for full statewide restoration.
• Bethel Municipal Center remains open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. for showers and a place to recharge cell phones and laptop computers." 

Tuesday, 8 a.m.
The latest from CL&P shows that Bethel is now 39 Percent without power. 

Tuesday Morning
After a full day post-Irene, 52 percent of Bethel is still without power, about 6 percentage point lower than the peak of outages on Sunday. Just more  than 4,300 residents are still waiting for things to get back to normal.

Monday, 6 p.m.
An update from the First Selectman:

"Just concluded a meeting with our CL&P liaison concerning recovery progress in Bethel. Here is the latest:

• Bethel currently has about 4,500 customers without power (58 percent of CL&P's customer base). Full recovery is estimated right now to be about one week, although that estimate could change up or down as utility crews continue to pinpoint and assess damage.
• Immediate priority is to clear all downed wires and trees hanging in wires as soon as possible to insure public safety.
• First day for Bethel Public Schools is now set for Thursday, Sept. 1. We expect power to be restored to the school complex by then, as well as to have all bus routes cleared of trees and downed wires. Watch for additional announcements from the Bethel Board of Education office concerning start of school.
• For Bethel residents without power, we are providing power strips for recharging your phones and hot showers here at the Bethel Municipal Center. Hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00pm.
• As a reminder, all phone and service is down here at the Municipal Center, except for the analog lines to the Emergency Operations Center. At this time we do not have an estimate from AT&T concerning restoration of phone service.

It is still important to stay clear of all downed wire and trees that are touching down wires, even though they may look safe.  Damaged wires can become re-energized anytime without warning.

Sometimes, something as simple as a nearby homeowner who connects a portable generator to his home can 'backfeed' the system, and fatal electrocutions can occur."

Monday Afternoon
Much of Bethel is still dark one day after Irene, as CL&P's outage map still says 56 percent of residents still don't have power. 

However, some residents on Facebook claim they've gotten power back and others have seen CL&P crews working downtown, on 302 and Wolfpits Road. Restoring power to Bethel may take several days.

Drivers should still be careful and debris and flooding is still prevelent. 

All sports fields are also closed due to flooding.

Sunday, 5:30 p.m.
Board of Education Chairman Larry Craybas also said there is a possibility of postponing the first day of school (scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 30), but that the outages have prevented the BOE members and the superintendent from communicating. Stay tuned for more updates and parents should look out for an e-mail with more information. 

Sunday, 5 p.m.
Just before 5 p.m., CL&P still reports about 56 percent of Bethel residents without power (outage map). 

While the worst of Irene is over, many roads in town are closed or still have debris, according to First Selectman Matthew Knickerbocker, who said he had been around town Sunday checking on the damage.

He also confirmed that no injuries were reported in Bethel, and that most serious incident was a small electrical fire on Plumtrees Road that was caused by a fallen tree that landed on a house. The fire was put out quickly.

"The Bethel fire departments have been very busy with calls of heavy debris and flooded basements,” Knickerbocker said.

He also said that residents should be okay leaving their homes as of early Sunday evening. 

Knickerbocker said: “People should be able to get around town fine. They may find heavy branches blocking some sections of the road, but as long as they’re careful, there shouldn’t be a problem driving in town.”

Some roads that remain closed in Bethel include Walnut Hill to Rockwell Road, Plumtrees Road, Wolfpits Road and Route 53 near the railroad bridge.

Knickerbocker also said Office of Emergency Management Director Tom Galliford has been working with CL&P to get crews to Bethel, but he hasn’t heard of their arrival.

“They prevented crews from heading out until much of the danger had passed,” he said. “Tom is working hard to get them there, but it may take several days until everyone regains power.”

Finally, several residents have reported telephone line outages as well. Knickerbocker said the municipal center’s phone lines are out yet again this week and that it will also take time to repair it.

Sunday, 1 p.m.
As Irene begins to die down, it does not mean the threat is over. A tropical storm warning continues for Northern Fairfield County and a flood warning is still in effect for Southern Connecticut. 

Patch Meteorologist Quincy Vagell says Irene is over, but Bethelites may still feel strong gusts from time to time. He also said more trees or powerlines could fall as the ground is very saturated. Residents should still take caution if leaving home.

As for 1:20 p.m., 54 percent of Bethel is without power or 4,550 CL&P customers.

Sunday, 9:15 a.m.
Irene has just been downgraded to a tropical storm as it reached New York City with 65 mph winds, according to the Associated Press.

The tornado watch for Fairfield County has been canceled. 

However, the worst of the storm has yet to hit Conneticut and residents are still encouraged to stay inside.

Sunday, 8:40 a.m.
Firefighhters have now closed Sky Edge between Ridgedale and Chimney Drive (from @PatMagz on Twitter). Claudia Pereira said on Facebook: "Power lines and trees down all over putnam park rd. Road is now blocked."

Power outages now down from 38 percent to 35 percent in Bethel.

Sunday, 8:15 a.m.
At this time, there are 3201 CL&P customers in Bethel without power, or 38 percent. Power is reportedly out along the Redding town line, Chestnut Ridge, Codfish Hill Road, the Milwakee Avenue area and Pound Sweet Hill to name a few.

According to a Facebook post made by Adam Rushka, "power lines [are] down on Coal Pit and the water from the stream is starting to come over the road."

Sunday, 6:45 a.m.
Within an hour, Bethel has jumped from 71 to now 2339 outages according to CL&P. That's 28 percent of residents. 

Sunday, 6:15 a.m.
Tom Galliford, Director of the Office of Emergancy Management, reports "multiple roads closed due to downed trees and power lines...STAY INDOORS to let emergency crews respond. Police and Fire Dept responding to multiple calls at this time." 

The number of outages has now jumped up to 745 or 8 percent of Bethel.

Sunday, 6 a.m.
Bethel is now up to 371 outages, according to CL&P. There have not been reports of serious injury, damages or emergencies at this time.

The National Weather Service has extended the tornado watch until 10 a.m. Sunday and Fairfield County is now under a flood warning until noon Sunday. Up to 5-8 inches of rainfall is expected. 

Wind gust are estimated to be about 40 mph or more.

Saturday, 8:45 p.m. Update:
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch until 5 a.m. Sunday. As of tonight, nine Bethel Connecticut Light & Power customers are without power.

Govenor Malloy is recommending that Connecticut residents stay off the roads and is looking to close roads as of midnight tonight.

Hurricane Irene is expected to hit Connecticut Sunday morning into the afternoon.

The municipal shelter in Bethel has yet to opened. If it does, a reverse 9-1-1 alert will be sent to those that have signed up for it. To sign up for the phone alerts, visit this website or check back to Bethel Patch.

Saturday Afternoon Update:
The Town of Bethel sent out a reverse 9-1-1 call Friday night. According to First Selectman Matthew Knickerbocker, it said the following:

• Strong category I hurricane conditions expected in Bethel by noon on Sunday.
• Have three days worth of food, water and daily medication on hand; try to complete shopping for supplies by 6pm on Saturday.
• Have a battery operated radio and flashlights on hand; have spare batteries.
• Emergency personnel will be on duty throughout the weekend at the Emergency Operations Center in town hall.  The town hall emergency shelter may be opened if deemed necessary.  If it is, another reverse 9-1-1 message will sent with to inform residents.
• Please do not use 9-1-1 to inquire about road conditions or power outages.  Use 9-1-1 only case of a real emergency.
• High winds expected, with strong possibility of downed trees and power outages.  Be prepared for power outages that could last for several days.
• Do not drive during the storm except in case of real emergency, due to threat of falling trees, downed power lines and flash floods

To sign up for the phone alerts, visit this website: https://ww2.everbridge.net/citizen/EverbridgeGateway.action?body=home&gis_alias_id=480761 

Original Post from Tom Galliford:
Bethel is preparing for approach of Hurricane Irene. Town crews are topping off emergency generators at town facilities, officials are reviewing emergency plans, and testing communication systems, among other things. 

Residents are urged to stay aware to weather forecast as the track and intensity can change quickly. 

Homeowners are also encouraged to clear any storm drains and other yard drains near their property to be sure they are clear.  Also- clear gutters on your home to help with rain runoff.

If your home is prone to basement flooding- now is the time to remove any items from the floor and place higher up to prevent water damage.  Test sump pumps now and if you need to purchase a new one or additional ones, now is the time to do it, not the day before or day of the storms. 

Residents should have a plan in place to evacuate or shelter in place.

Recommended Items to Include in a Basic Emergency Supply Kit:

• One gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation
• A three-day supply of non-perishable food
• Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• First aid kit
• A whistle to signal for help
• Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
• Local maps
• Cell phone with chargers, inverter or solar charger

Family Emergency Plan

• Identify an out-of town contact. It may be easier to make a long-distance phone call than to call across town, so an out-of-town contact may be in a better position to communicate among separated family members.
• Be sure every member of your family knows the phone number and can call the emergency contact. If you have a cell phone, program that person(s) as "ICE" (In Case of Emergency) in your phone. If you are in an accident, emergency personnel will often check your ICE listings in order to get a hold of someone you know. Make sure to tell your family and friends that you’ve listed them as emergency contacts.
• Teach family members how to use text messaging. Text messages can often get around network disruptions when a phone call might not be able to get through.
• Subscribe to alert services. Many communities/states now have systems that will send instant text alerts or e-mails to let you know about bad weather, road closings, local emergencies, etc. In Connecticut, go to www.ct.gov/ctalert to register for alerts.

For more information on Hurricane Preparedness go to www.ct.gov/demhs or www.ready.gov.

Tor receive updates from Bethel's Office of Emergancy Management, make sure to "like" them on Facebook.