'Goodbye, Irene': A Letter from the First Selectman

Power was completely restored to Wilton by September 6th.  This was a long and terrible ordeal for many citizens! It is timely now to learn from this storm and the town will be reviewing what went right and what didn’t and where improvements are needed, as it is inevitable that more storms will come our way.

Most important, I wish to thank all of our town employees who worked long hours to clear roads, respond to emergencies, provide information and assist citizens in need.  In particular, our DPW, Parks & Grounds, Police, Fire Department and Social Services employees all did an outstanding job.  CERT team volunteers did a highly professional job assisting the own at the Emergency Shelter, distributing water and on traffic control. CERT team members were simply invaluable. 

We are also grateful to the staffs at the Library, Wilton Family Y, the Teen Center, and at Comstock Community Center, who assisted many citizens in need.  Local shops and supermarkets did a great civic job providing many special services gratis to customers.   Everyone’s cooperative spirit during some very difficult times was most appreciated.

In addition, it is important to remember the CL&P crews who worked long 16 hour double shifts to get power back to everyone. In response to this emergency, crews from at least 7 states were on the scene in Wilton driving in their trucks from distant places such as Missouri, Colorado, Wisconsin, etc.  They also deserve recognition and our thanks.

Regrettably, this storm set a few records in Wilton, namely:

• Most residents without power at one time
• First Emergency Shelter operation
• Longest activation of our Emergency Operations Center, and
• First official declaration of a State of Emergency in the history of the Town.

The storm lived up to its advance billing, as 81% of CL&P customers in Wilton reported outages at the peak. Fourteen citizens sought safety at our Emergency shelter, which was in operation for two nights, and bottled water was distributed to many citizens in need.     

In summary, Wilton was fortunate. No one was killed or injured and none of our Town buildings, schools or other facilities were damaged.  Flooding was significantly less than expected, due to +4.3" of rain vs. the forecasted potential for 8-12". While some office buildings and other businesses lost power, only minor physical damage was reported.  Fortunately, Wilton Center had power, which enabled residents to replenish food products and other essentials.    

The biggest issue was major damage to the power distribution system that caused widespread power loss and hardships for almost a week.  To assist with discarding rotting food, the Town waived fees for wet garbage and food losses delivered by residents to the Transfer Station. 

Roadside storm debris will be collected by DPW crews over the next several weeks. Due to this huge collection job, only one pick up pass will be made on each road in Wilton.  Your cooperation will be most appreciated.

Lastly, I would like to personally thank every Wilton resident for their patience during the power restoration period. Almost everyone was amazingly tolerant and recognized the widespread damage that occurred to the power distribution systems. Thanks again Wilton!

In summary, while we were all inconvenienced and had various losses, the consensus is that we were very fortunate. 

William F. Brennan

First Selectman