Wi-Fi tailgating and blocked roads: Westport reels from Isaias’ wrath

Some residents who live on dead ends have been trapped on their blocks due to downed trees and power lines.

News 12 Staff

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Aug 6, 2020, 9:16 PM

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Updated 1,380 days ago

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The impact of Isaias is still being felt by a large majority of Westport residents – 92% of the town was still without power as of early Thursday evening.

That number was at 97% Thursday morning.

Some residents who live on dead ends have been trapped on their blocks due to downed trees and power lines.

“We have about 20, 25 families that live back here and none of us can get out,” Jodi Selzer told News 12.

MORE: ‘Please be patient.’ Isaias’ force damages homes, kills power in Westport

Some residents who could make it out of their community made their way to the Westport Public Library where there is free Wi-Fi accessible from the building’s lawn and parking lot.

Some even set up pop-up offices out of their cars so they can continue to run their businesses.

“We were tailgating, we were glamping, but in the end, we're running our business,” says Kerri Rosenthal.

In all, 294 roads were closed after the storm and more than 11,000 residents are still without power.

The town says progress has been made and that it has managed to open up about 40% of the blocked roadways.

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