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Emergency management: about 2,700 Waterford customers lost power after July 4 windstorm; 50 remained without service at meeting time
Summary
Emergency Management Director Steve Sinagra briefed the Board on the July 4 windstorm that downed trees and lines, caused about 2,700 outages (roughly 27% of customers), closed 29 roads (cleared by the meeting), and left about 50 customers still without power. He said Eversource prioritized circuits and that reimbursement is unlikely without a governor’s declaration.
Emergency Management Director Steve Sinagra told the Waterford Board of Selectmen on July 7 that the July 4‑5 severe thunderstorms produced straight‑line winds (not a tornado) that snapped poles, downed lines and left thousands without power.
"We experienced about 2,700 outages in our town out of 10,515 customers," Sinagra said, calling that figure "roughly 27% of our customers." He told the board Eversource prioritized restoration by hazard and circuit size, that the town established a partial EOC activation and that crews from other states assisted, with tree‑clearing and electrical crews working around the clock.
Sinagra said the town recorded 29 roads blocked by trees or wires (all cleared by the time of the meeting) and that roughly 50 customers remained without power. He explained a radio‑hub UPS failure highlighted aging infrastructure at a communications site and that it is less expensive to replace the system than to replace batteries. "We are looking at replacing it based on its age," he said.
On reimbursement, Sinagra said because the governor had not declared a statewide emergency for the event, county and FEMA thresholds may not be met and the town may not be asked to submit costs; if thresholds are later opened the town will provide documented costs. "If a threshold is met for the county, then they will seek reimbursement from FEMA," he said, while cautioning that it may not happen.
What happens next: Sinagra and department heads will continue to document overtime and cleanup costs; Selectmen asked for payroll and overtime cost reports to support any future reimbursement requests.
Provenance: topicintro SEG 1174; topfinish SEG 1530
