WFSB Channel 3708K remain in dark after Irene

708K remain in dark after Irene

About 708,000 utility customers remained in the dark Monday morning after Tropical Storm Irene swept through the state on Sunday.

Officials at Connecticut Light & Power said crews will work around the clock until restoration efforts are complete.

During what will likely be a multi-day restoration effort, nearly 75 percent of crews will begin their shift at 7 a.m. to utilize daylight hours.

The remaining 25 percent will begin at 3 p.m. and will work through the night.

"It (kind of) stinks without power, but what can you do," said South Windsor resident Ed Henry.

Henry said that the good thing about the power outage is that his children aren't just sitting at home watching TV.

All CL&P employees are also required to take an eight-hour rest period between shifts to ensure safety.

"Having a vast majority of crews work during daylight hours allows us to maximize the efficiency of our workforce as we face a week or more of restoration efforts," said Jeff Butler, of CL&P. "The safety of our employees, contractors and our customers is of our utmost concern and we want to make sure everyone working on this restoration has appropriate time to rest between shifts."

CL&P officials are reminding people to stay at least 10 feet away from all downed wires and to assume they are live.

If you're in your vehicle and a power line falls on it, stay inside, don't touch anything and wait for emergency crews to arrive. Call 911 immediately with any emergency situation.

As of 11:45 a.m., CL&P was reporting 597,000 power outages while United Illuminating was reporting 111,000 outages as of 10 a.m.

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