More Than 2,900 Suffield CL&P Customers Without Power at 6:50 p.m.

About 2,900 Suffield Connecticut Light & Power customers were without power as of 6:40 p.m. on Thursday as thunderstorms traveled across Connecticut. About 102,000 customers throughout the state were without power at the same time.

Emergency services in Suffield are active. The Suffield Fire Department is engaged in dealing with the outages, which are effecting about half of Suffield's CL&P customers, but couldn't provide any specific information.

CL&P has opened its emergency operations center in Berlin. The company is currently tracking the storm and assessing the situation in towns with power outages. More than 100 line and tree crews ready to restore power but safety is a concern.

"We have been carefully watching the weather and put plans in place so we have crews and support staff ready to respond once the storm moves through," said Al Roy, CL&P's manager of emergency management, in a press release. "As always, we will be working with town and state officials to coordinate our efforts."

CL&P is offering this advice for customers in effected areas:

• Stay at least 10 feet away from all wires! Assume any downed, hanging or burning power lines are live and dangerous. Call 911 immediately if you see a live wire. If a power line falls on your vehicle while you’re inside, stay there.  Don’t touch anything outside the vehicle and wait for emergency crews.  
• Report your power outage by calling CL&P at 800-286-2000 or 860-947-2000 in the Hartford area. The automated phone system rapidly processes reports and helps the company speed restoration efforts. It also provides restoration estimates as soon as they’re available.

• Before operating a generator, make sure it has been properly installed by a licensed electrician. Improperly installed generators can feed electricity back into power lines and pose a deadly situation for our workers. Always operate generators outdoors to avoid carbon monoxide hazards.

Look for more information as it becomes available on Suffield Patch.