Cleaning Up After Irene

Greenwich Public Works and CL&P crews were seen working along the major routes in all sections of Greenwich Monday, cleaning up debris and repairing damage in the wake of Hurricane Irene, which toppled trees with her 60 mph winds; swelled rivers and streams with her heavy rains; and caused major tidal flooding along the coast.

As of about 11 p.m., Monday, about 10,000 Connecticut Light and Power customers in Greenwich were without electrical service, according to the CL&P Outage Map for Connecticut. That's down from  about 13,520 without Sunday evening. About 544,559 CL&P customers statewide were without power at 11 p.m. Monday.

According to town officials, CL&P has 16 line crews and 10 tree crews working on 16 hour schedules in Greenwich — with 20 of those crews working during the day and six working through the night. The crews are reportedly focusing on main routes, first.

First Selectman Peter Tesei has reportedly informed CL&P executives that he is not satisfied with the response from the utility.

"The First Selectman has informed CL+P executives that he believes the magnitude of the response is not reflective of the severity of the situation Greenwich businesses and residents are currently enduring," a statement released by the town Monday evening states.

"There are 176 trees currently down," the release states. "The Town has cleared 83 road blockages since 4 p.m. yesterday. The Town cannot remove trees in the road if there are wires involved without Connecticut Light and Power’s assistance."

As of 5:45 p.m. Monday, the town had identified 75 complete road closures and 32 partial road closures. (To access a list of current road blockages click here).

Town officials say CL&P customers "should not expect restoration of power before Thursday afternoon," however numerous residents have had their power restored since the storm abated late Monday afternoon.

Metro North will be operating on a regular schedule beginning Tuesday morning.

In addition town parking regulations — which had been lifted during the strom — will go back into effect.

The town is advising all residents to refrain from putting their storm debris by the edge of the road, as there is currently no plan to have the town remove it.

"The Department of Public Works will not remove debris that from private property," the release states.

Greenwich Point and Byram beaches are expected to reopen Tuesday, while Island Beach and Great Captain's Island are expected to reopen Friday. There was reportedly no damage to the town ferries as a result of the storm.