Westport braces for powerful nor'easter 2 weeks after major floods hit
Westport's fire chief said that saturated soil from the Sept. 13 flash flooding could "do significant tree damage" and lead to widespread power outages.
More Stories
Talk about a one-two punch.
Westport is bracing for downed trees and power outages in this weekend’s nor’easter – just two weeks after flash flooding inundated the town.
“SOMETHING IS COMING”
At Compo Beach, spectators gathered on Friday to watch the winds whip and the waves crash ahead of the storm.
“The water behind us is rougher than I've seen it down here in for awhile, so it looks like something is coming,” said Joe Levine, who has lived in the area for two decades.
That “something” is a powerful nor'easter that could hang around for days.
“We’re looking at Friday night into Sunday afternoon,” said Westport Fire Chief Nick Marsan.
Marsan is particularly worried about trees coming down, especially after the Sept. 13 storm dumped 8 inches of rain on the town. Clogged storm drains could also be a problem.
“All of our trees still have leaves on it. The ground is saturated, so the wind is where – we’re expecting the wind to do significant tree damage,” Marsan said. “We’ll probably anticipate about 30% of our residents being without power, hopefully for not a very long period of time.”
EVERSOURCE PREPS
Eversource is pre-positioning hundreds of crews from out-of- state. They are planning for a Level 5 emergency, which could bring up to 130,000 outages statewide.
“I want to emphasize here though, just because we are preparing for a potential number of outages doesn’t mean that we’re actually expecting that many to occur,” said Eversource spokesperson Jamie Ratliff.
The utility is urging homeowners to stay out of flooded basements because wet wiring could still be electrified and should be inspected first. Gas systems that are submerged should also be shut off, checked and relit by a technician.
NEIGHBORS NOT CONCERNED
Adding to the storm risk, Saturday is a full moon, which means astronomical high tides.
But at Compo Beach, most observers were more curious than concerned.
“I think the forecasts are good for the grocery stores. You know, all the milk and bread is gone,” said Robin Batteau, who spent 30 years at Compo Beach, including several hurricanes. “But other than that, I just don't see it as a real danger.”
