New Canaan Patch will post updates to this "hub" article throughout Friday, including how things are going in town and links to all separate articles published on the site. If there's a piece of information you're seeking, post it in the comments thread below and we'll try to run it down for you.
USEFUL LINKS
- Winter Storm: What's Open and Closed in New Canaan
- New Canaan Office of Emergency Management
- PHOTOS: Storm in New Canaan (includes "Before and After" gallery)
- MAP: New Snowfall in New Canaan
- New Canaan's Plow Policy
- State DOT Traffic Cameras on Interstate 95 in Greenwich, Stamford, Darien and Norwalk (See also New Canaan Patch’s "Commute” page)
UPDATES
SUNDAY
8 p.m.
No School Monday in New Canaan
6:23 p.m.
The superintendent of schools says that because a lot of teachers and bus drivers live in towns severely affected by the storm—including whether they can get around their own town roads—it isn't clear whether school will be held Monday. More here: District: No Decision Yet on School Monday in New Canaan
3:30 p.m., Feb. 10
- Two new posts today—including one important one for New Canaan commuters. The MTA says the branch service in town is suspended, and advocates for rail commuters say it'll take plenty of planning to get into New York City: Monday Morning Rail Service Iffy East of Stamford
- Also, though New Canaan and other lower Fairfield County towns were spared, much of the county is still digging out and school has been canceled in towns like Shelton, Stratford and Milford. Fairfield got walloped too. Here's a breakdown of snowfall: New Canaan Got 22 Inches: CT Snow Totals by Town
SATURDAY
4:50 p.m.
Just 48 New Canaan homes are without power as of now, CL&P says.
First Selectman Rob Mallozzi, who was among those in the Heritage Hill Road area to lose power Friday afternoon, told Patch that he was pleased with the town's readiness for the blizzard.
"The important lesson here is that the town of New Canaan was fully prepared for whatever eventually on a scale of one to 10 this storm would have brought," Mallozzi said. "The [New Canaan Office of Emergency Management] was open yesterday, the crews in town were doing incredibly things early in the morning and later today, CL&P had crews on town."
We'll have more from Mallozzi in Sunday's free newsletter from New Canaan Patch.
The Gulf station downtown ran out of gas Saturday—it's not clear why—and said the Mobil across the street did, too. Mobil wasn't immediately available for comment. Gulf officials said they were expecting a delivery Saturday evening.
9:30 a.m.
NBC Connecticut just reported on TV that New Canaan got 22 inches of snow.
With that much on the ground, continued gusts of 30 mph-plus and the governor's ban for road travel in the state, town emergency officials are encouraging residents to stay in until the roads have been cleared. Here's the latest message from New Canaan Emergency Management Director Mike Handler:
"Good morning, this is Mike Handler with a 9 am update from the EOC. We currently have no reported power outages in Town. Our highway crews are out working to make roadways passable but with 20+ inches of snow accumulation this is not going to be an easy or quick task. Governor Malloy has extended the mandated driving ban to include all roadways until we are able to remove the snow. Please remember that it is against the Town code to push snow from private driveways out into the roadways—please have the snow pushed in towards your property. This will prevent our roads from becoming blocked after our crews have cleared them. Please continue to call CL&P with any power outages at (800) 286-2000. At this time the EOC is moving to monitoring status. We are thankful that New Canaan was spared any significant damage and I am unaware of any town ordinance limiting the height of your snowmen so enjoy your weekend in the snow and stay safe."
5:35 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 9
Snow is expected to continue falling in New Canaan through about 9 a.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
All of New Canaan had power at 5:37 a.m. Saturday, according to Connecticut Light & Power, as the blizzard hits the coastal part of the state further up the shoreline far harder (half of Stonington and 68 percent of Waterford are in the dark, the utility says).
"A significant nor'easter continues to bring crippling impacts to portions of the Northeast," according to the weather service. Moderate to heavy snow is expected to continue across Pennsylvania, western New York and much of New England before tapering off by Saturday afternoon. Some locations are expected to see snowfall in excess of two feet."
Both the New Canaan Library and Y plan to open at 1 p.m., the organizations say.
Total daily accumulation Saturday in New Canaan could be up to three inches, bringing total snowfall to more than 10 inches, the weather service says.
FRIDAY
4:13 p.m.
New Canaan Emergency Management Director Mike Handler said the town's "Emergency Operations Center"—a volunteer-driven group that sets up shop at the police department and gets information to and from residents during emergencies—is in "partial activation."
Noting Gov. Dannel Malloy's ban of passenger cars on state highways now in effect, Handler said: "The conditions of the roadways continue to deteriorate locally."
2:03 p.m.
Mike Handler of the New Canaan OEM says the Heritage Hill problem was due to a motor vehicle striking a utility pole. CL&P says power out in just 199 homes—2 percent of the utility's customers in town.
1:40 p.m.
Just heard from Niles Howard on Twitter that power is out on Heritage Hill Road. CL&P says there are 368 New Canaan customers in the dark as of 1:40 p.m. We also hear from Ivan Martinez Nieves that Forest Street is out near Joe's Pizza (which is on Locust, around the corner).
We also posted some more updates to our What's Open & Closed article here, and hope to have a good idea by tomorrow morning of where you can get a cup of coffee, newspaper (if you're into the whole broadsheet thing!) and hot breakfast in town. Stay tuned and keep an eye here and on the New Canaan OEM Facebook page. Also, if you haven't already, make sure to register here—smart, free, safe.
10:40 a.m.
The New Canaan Y is closing at 12 p.m. today. No youth basketball games Friday or Saturday, all cancelled. New Canaan Library also closing at 12 p.m. today, and plans to reopen at 1 p.m. Saturday.
5:45 a.m. Friday, Feb. 8
New. The weather service says gusts will top 40 mph as up to seven inches of daytime snow is possible, 20 overall through Saturday afternoon.
THURSDAY
11 p.m.
Town officials say they’re prepared Friday to launch New Canaan’s fleet of 21 snow removal vehicles: 13 six-wheel dump trucks, five low-blade trucks and three loaders.
“The dump trucks have sanders in them,” Mose Saccary, the New Canaan Department of Public Works superintendent of operations, told Patch.
The National Weather Service is calling for 20 inches of snow in New Canaan, starting Friday. For the DPW during a winter storm like this one, the town is divided into 12 sections of main and secondary roads.
“Depending on how fast the snow comes, how hard it’s falling per hour, we may just concentrate on emergency routes which are the main rods, and then as we get caught up, the side roads,” said Saccary, a town worker for 30 years including six in his current role. “We’re just basically trying to keep everything moving for emergency vehicles.”
And that’s important.
As Mike Handler of the New Canaan Emergency Operations Center told Patch, what’s concerning is that heavy snowfall is expected to coincide with high winds—increasing the likelihood that branches and trees will fall down to snap power lines. Handler is encouraging New Canaan residents to register with this free service, which supplies emergency dispatchers with more information in the event that a 911 call comes in.
6:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7
The National Weather Service now says there's a 50 percent chance of snow tonight but it won't start until 4 a.m. and less than a half-inch will accumulate. Snow will fall mainly after 7 a.m. Friday as wind gusts up to 34 mph, and we'll get up to seven inches during the day. The heavy stuff really comes Friday night, with more a foot possible, and then a few more inches on Saturday.
