GROTON — After one of the most devastating winter storms on record, relieved town officials had only praise for the swift and efficient response by the Groton Electric Light Department and the town’s emergency management professionals.
“I heard that some people have said that Groton didn’t get hit as bad as other communities, but we most certainly did,” insisted town manager Mark Haddad of a freezing rain last Thursday that left the area sheathed in ice. Downed trees and electric wires were everywhere, blocking roadways and leaving tens of thousands of homes and businesses without power, in some cases for days.
The big difference between Groton and many other towns, however, was that Groton has its own electric company that was able to respond with greater speed than other towns. The emergency left as much as two-thirds of the community powerless in the wake of the storm.
The big difference between Groton and many other towns, however, was that Groton has its own electric company that was able to respond with greater speed than other towns. The emergency left as much as two-thirds of the community powerless in the wake of the storm.
“Our Electric Light Department was able to respond quickly and restore power and address the situation rapidly,” Haddad said. “Also, the Highway Department with Tom Delaney, the Fire Department with Joseph Bosselait, and the Police Department with Don Palma were equally diligent and responsive. Because of them, Groton had its roads open quickly. Together, they all kept the town running.”
Communities across New England and New York were hit by a devastating ice storm on the evening of Dec. 11-12. Throughout the region, neighborhoods and sometimes whole towns went dark, with many still dark even days afterward.
Without power, without heat and sometimes without phone service, thousands were driven from their homes into outdoor temperatures that fell to 20 degrees Fahrenheit, there to seek the shelters set up in public buildings or at the homes of family and friends.
In Groton, a public shelter was set up by the town’s emergency management first at the Senior Center and then at the high school and Lost Lake fire station, where the town manager reported several residents rode out the crisis.
“I cannot say enough about the professionalism of the town’s departments and their employees and volunteers,” Haddad said. “We weathered this storm as well as could be expected under the circumstances.”
To coordinate responses to the damage from the storm, the town’s emergency responders gathered temporarily at the Electric Light Department building on Station Avenue before a more permanent rallying point was established.
“The first thing that was done was to set up a command post, first at the Electric Light building and then over at the public safety building,” Haddad said. “The chiefs worked around the clock.”
“Decades of good management have given Groton Electric Light Department a solid infrastructure,” GELD manager Kevin Kelly said. His department reconnected 2,500 of GELD’s 4,600 customers who had lost power as a result of the storm.
Calling teamwork among the town’s departments as well as help from various selectmen “exceptional,” Kelly said a plan to address the crisis was already in place by early on the morning of Dec. 12. Crews were already at work clearing roads and disentangling electrical wires from fallen tree limbs.
By the evening of Monday, Dec. 15, when he met with the Board of Selectmen for a post-storm report, Kelly stated that so far as he knew, electric power had been restored to everyone in town. Anyone who still did not have power was advised to contact the GELD offices.
However, Kelly reported that “the job was far from over” and he expected it would take another three weeks to clean up. He asked residents to report, but not to touch, any low-hanging wires in their neighborhoods.
After days of around-the-clock effort by municipal employees and untold physical damage to the town, the dollar cost of responding to the emergency will no doubt be high. In a year that has already seen falling revenue, the impact on the budget is expected to be considerable.
“The town was devastated,” Haddad acknowledged. “The light plant got impacted dramatically as did the town. But as the governor declared a state of emergency, we’re hoping to have our expenses reimbursed from the state.”
