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08/05/2020 12:00 AMMore than 75 percent of Madison residents are without power after Tropical Storm Iasias swept through the town yesterday, bringing down trees and electrical lines and blocking roads throughout the town, with people being asked to stay at home if possible and stop attempting to circumvent barriers put up by emergency personnel.
Though there were no serious injuries or deaths reported as of Wednesday morning, according to Madison Police Department Captain Joe Race, the devastation was worse than expected, with a "majority" of roads seeing blockages or hazards at some point even as crews worked all night to clear them.
"We got rocked, we got absolutely rocked," Race said.
Boston Post Road and Route 79 both have multiple blockages, according to Race, and downtown was completely without power as of Wednesday morning with no immediate hope of restoration.
With no sign of Eversource workers in town, Race asked residents to be patient, as Public Works employees, firefighters, and police officers cannot begin removing many blockages due to the fact that they involve downed wires, and the power company must ensure those lines are not active before debris can be cleared.
First Selectman Peggy Lyons posted an update Wednesday morning cautioning that due to the "magnitude of the damage," people should be prepared for power to be out for "multiple days."
The town gym near Town Campus opened as an emergency shelter for people to charge electronic devices and take showers, according to Lyons, though there can only be a maximum of 40 people inside the building at a time.
Potable water will also be available at the shelter, Lyons said, and the town is in process of arranging for a water truck in front of the North Madison Fire House.
According to Race, there have been many issues with people circumventing barriers placed by the MPD or other town employees--moving barriers and cones in order to drive through areas where power lines are down, and a potential hazard has been identified.
Race said that overnight, Madison employees were able to clear all or nearly all the blockages that did not involve electrical hazards, meaning residents absolutely should not try to pass those roads.
"That's what people need to understand--you can't move the barricades and drive through them, because those are live wires. And we're seeing way too much of that," Race said.
All night, police and other emergency personnel were having to put barriers and cones back up after people moved them, according to Race. Because of how many downed wires there are, the town cannot staff every single location, Race said.
"We can make it work, but we need the public's cooperation," he said.
The town can only wait for Eversource to arrive and shut off the electricity, according to Race, before they can clear these areas. Race said he was not sure if the power company had done any work in Madison yet, but he was not aware of any crews in town as of Wednesday at around 11 a.m.
"From the way it was after some of the other big storms we've had--Sandy and Irene--there is no response from Eversource, and it's going to frustrate a lot of people very quickly," Race said.
Race specifically asked all residents to stay at home unless they absolutely needed to be somewhere, saying that "sightseers"--who were simply out to marvel at the destruction caused by the storm--were hampering emergency response and cleanup efforts by clogging the already limited routes available to essential personnel.
"It's making it so difficult for us to get around," Race said. "Because the roads are narrow, and now there's more cars because everyone wants to sightsee, and right now is just not the time for that...we're running flat out as a department, and so is [the fire department]. It's just making it worse to have to fight through traffic."