Some Power Restored Along Route 44

Update 8 p.m. 

School has now been canceled for the remainder of the week. 

Superintendent Kevin Case said with no power, downed lines and limbs it was a decision to make. 

"I wanted families to be able to plan for the rest of the week," he said. 

And as most residents are another day without power, some have gotten gas locally and found fresh coffee. 

Mobil and Citgo were open for fuel much of the day. We will try and get out soon to see if that's still the case. The Gulf station was open for some time but is out of gas for now and could possibly receive a shipment tomorrow. If you can get to the stations with fuel expect to wait; the lines for gas are long. At the Mobil station backed-up cars were causing hazards at the Route 44/East Hill intersection.

Earlier in the day, a reader reported that gas stations in Torrington were open with little wait. 

Electricity is on at many other shops on Route 44 but a few traffic signals remain out. The Whole Donut and Canton McDonalds are open as well. (We will attempt to keep track of other openings and readers are encouraged to tell us about open stations and businesses in the comments.)

The ShopRite is open and other businesses within the shopping center hope to open later today. ShopRite was well stocked with wood and water when Patch visited.

At Larsen Ace Hardware lines for a shipment of generators were long and all had been reportedly spoken for. The Canton Laundromat was not yet open around noon. 

Town Hall is open for those who need to pay sewer or other bills. 

Public Works employees worked Tuesday on clearing limbs from roadways where its safe, often following CL&P crews who are making initial cuts near power lines. Some contractors are on the job as well and the town is working on getting additional trees and electric crews, First Selectman Richard Barlow said.

Some roads remain blocked on one end but all in town are open Barlow said. 

As of 8 p.m., Connecticut Light & Power web site reported little change since early this morning when 15 percent of power in town was restored. First Selectman Richard Barlow said there was no circuit by circuit breakdown as of shortly before noon. 

"Hopefully we'll get some circuit by circuit projections from CL&P," he said. 

The town continues to operate its shelter at the Community Center. Lunch and dinner are slated for approximately 1 and 6 p.m. The library is open again until 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. The town is offering warm showers at the Mills Pond Pool facility from 1 to 5:30 p.m. today through Friday.

Bring your own toiletries. Residents can also bring their brush free of charge to the town's transfer station through the end of the week. Town Clerk Linda Smith said Paines said private pickup would be a day late and crews would get to as many homes as possible. Those who do not receive the service are allowed to put out extra garbage next week. 

The town has canceled meetings scheduled for the week, including the planned Business and Development Workshop the Plan of Conservation and Development Update Committee had planned for Wednesday evening. The library's genealogy program scheduled for Wednesday will also be rescheduled. 

Numerous residents were at the shelter this week to charge devices, get a cup of coffee or enjoy a meal. More than 100 residents stayed the night, according to early estimates. 

There were a few incidents at the center. A couple of elderly residents needed medical attention and an Avon chiropractor was asked to leave after allegedly setting up without permission. 

"I'm providing a service and they want to call the police," he told those gathered downstairs but he left after officers arrived. 

All in all, however, people have been great, Barlow said. He especially said he was proud of Public Works crews, police, volunteer firefighters and the volunteers at the shelter. 

"We're surviving as a community," he said. 

Barlow said he realized some will get more frustrated if they are without power for some time but wants to reiterate that crews are working hard. 

"The message is crews are working as diligently as possible to get it done," he said. 

Barlow later said he spotted crews in town from the Joplin, Missouri area, which was devastated by a tornado earlier this year. That really put things in perspective, he said. 

"As bad as people think it is here those guys went out after the tornado and were picking up body parts," he said.