The Daily Five: Picking Up After Sandy—Power On, Schools Open, Shelters Closed, Water Testing

1. Today will be sunny and clear, but cold. Weather.com is predicting a high temperature of just 46 degrees and an overnight low of 35 degrees. The National Weather Service is predicting that the shoreline is going to be whacked again by another storm starting on Wednesday afternoon, with a storm that could bring high winds and rain, possibly even snow!

2. As of Sunday, 97 percent of Connecticut Light & Power customers had power once more and power had been fully restored to East Lyme and Lyme. As most people had light and heat as of yesterday, the Red Cross Regional Emergency Shelter at the East Lyme Community Center closed. Unfortunately, there were still a few people in Old Lyme without electricity.

About 7 percent, or 423 customers, were still in the dark last night as temperatures continued to drop. Many of the homes without power are seasonal residences down by the beaches and the town has been working with CL&P to identify which homes are too unsafe to have power restored.

Damaged homes are being isolated from the electric grid. Before they can be reconnected, property owners must have their buildings inspected by a licensed electrician, LP gas systems need to be inspected by a qualified gas installer, and the home's drinking water must be tested for safety.

If your building is served by a water company, a copy of your recent bill will meet this requirement. Those who rely on well water can pick up water testing bottles from Old Lyme Town Hall to be taken to a water testing lab. Eastern Analytical Laboratories, 134 Boston Post Rd., Old Saybrook is offering water testing at a reduced rate ($39 for a coliform test) for Old Lyme residents. Eastern Analytical is open Monday-Friday, 9:00 am to 1:30 pm. Call (860) 388-2378 for information.  

Old Lyme officials have been assured that remaining power outages will be sorted out by today but if you still have no power, please call CL&P at 1-800-286-2000.   

AT&T was working yesterday on repairing the fiberoptic cable in Old Lyme that was taken out by the storm. You should have the Internet again by today. 

3. East Lyme and Old Lyme transfer stations are accepting rotting food cleared out from defrosted refrigerators, Storm Sandy debris and demolition material at no charge. Lyme residents can bring brush and wood to the Lyme Landfill but the usual rules apply. Make sure wood and brush is no longer than eight feet and no wider than six inches.

East Lyme residents can take wood and brush waste produced by Hurricane Sandy to Vets' Field, also free of charge. If you can't get the brush there yourself, don't worry. Just pile it up on the side of the road and First Selectman Paul Formica said the town will pick it up at some point. 

4. School is back in session today and, here's a surprising opening after so many closings, kids will be going to school again on Tuesday too. Although Lyme-Old Lyme schools were scheduled to be closed on Election Day, because students were off all last week the Lyme-Old Lyme school district decided to hold school as usual on Tuesday. East Lyme will still be closed, however, as the High School is a polling site for voting District 1 and the day will be used as a professional development day for the school district. 

5. All the polling places in East Lyme, Old Lyme, and Lyme have power and will be open as scheduled on Election Day from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. We'll have tons of election information for you on Tuesday, with lots of updates throughout the day and election results as soon as they are known.

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