Hurricane Sandy North Haven: 'We Were Extremely Lucky'

The message from Deputy Fire Chief David Marcarelli was clear: the Town of North Haven dodged a bullet when it came to sustaining any serious or widespread damage or devastation during Hurricane Sandy.

"We were extremely lucky," Marcarelli told North Haven Patch at NHFD headquarters on Tuesday. "Compared to Irene and the Snowtober storms last year, this was far less."

'Minimal Amount of Rain'

Although the town did not have to worry about high tide storm surges like neighboring shoreline towns, there was still concern about a potential for localized flooding and massive town-wide power outages due to the heavy winds.

But, Marcarelli said the storm, in the end, brought far less rain than expected, leading to little if any flooding in town.

"It was a minimal amount of rain," the deputy chief said. "I believe we only had about an inch of rain in total."

Power Outages Continue

And, he added, although the town is dealing with power outages, there were not at the same level as last year's storms.

"Again, we were lucky," Marcarelli said.

As of 5 a.m. Wednesday morning, United Illuminating is reporting that there are 3,787 customers in North Haven without power, or some 34 percent of the town.

No School Wednesday

As of late on Tuesday, there were only two town roads still closed due to downed wires or debris: Ridge Road and Davis. And Marcarelli said crews were working to open those streets as soon as possible.

However, as the clean up continues around town, North Haven Public Schools are once again closed for Wednesday.

Halloween Postponed

North Haven also joined other area towns — East Haven, West Haven and North Haven — in postponing this year's annual Halloween trick-or-treating celebration.

All four municipalities, including North Haven, noted the need to ensure local roads were safe for foot travel and free of downed wires and limbs in their announcements about the delay.

Emergency Shelter

Marcarelli said the town did end up opening its emergency shelter at North Haven High School on Monday afternoon at about 3 p.m.

But, unlike during last year's storms where several residents took advantage of the temporary refuge, there was only one person who used the facility during Sandy.

Marcarelli said the shelter was then closed Tuesday morning at 8 a.m.

North Haven Patch will continue to provide updates on the storm recovery process both here on the website, as well as our Facebook and Twitter pages.