Salisbury, Falls Village rebound after July 4 Storm

SALISBURY – Days after the July 4 storm left roads impassable and thousands without electricity and water, recovery efforts continued across the Northwest Corner. By Friday, Salisbury and Falls Village — two of the hardest-hit communities — had made significant progress, though crews were still clearing trees, repairing power lines and reopening roads.

In Salisbury, the large trees that fell at the Academy Building and the Scoville Memorial Library had been cleared, and traffic on Route 44 was flowing with only occasional delays as tree service crews removed fallen trees from private homes.

Crews, however, were still working on Cobble Road and Route 41, and Cobble Road was only accessible from Route 44.

Factory/Washinee Street at Town Hall also remained closed as of 11:30 a.m. Friday. A car was still beneath a tangle of downed trees in the Town Hall parking lot. Town Hall itself, however, had reopened.

The large tree that fell on the White Hart lawn had been removed by Wednesday, July 8, and Salmon Kill Road had reopened.

The improvements marked a dramatic change from earlier in the week, when much of Salisbury remained clogged with fallen trees and downed power lines.

Salisbury clean-up efforts

On Tuesday, July 7, under cloudy and rainy skies, crews lined Route 44 through Salisbury and Lakeville, replacing poles, clearing fallen trees and restoring power lines.

Among the workers on Brook Street were Eversource crews from Quebec who came to the U.S. as emergency backup. Additional crews worked just east of the Lakeville Hose Company firehouse, west of the Scoville Memorial Library at Conklin Street, and east of the entrance to the Lion’s Head condominium complex.

Work continued on hard-hit Salmon Kill Road as far as the eye could see from Route 44. The road was closed from both the Route 44 entrance and the Farnam Road entrance.

A crew working on a downed tree and utility pole in the westbound lane of Route 44 east of Cobble Road on Tuesday, July 7.Patrick L. Sullivan

Other crews worked on Factory/Washinee Street by Town Hall.

After debris was cleared from the library lawn, it became clear that several large trees had fallen across Wachnocastinook Brook.

Route 41/Undermountain Road was also closed Tuesday from the intersection with Route 44, by the town Green and the White Hart. Undermountain Road was particularly hard hit in the storm.

Crews were also deployed along Dugway, Brinton Hill Road and Farnam Road.

Falls Villageclean-up efforts

Falls Village also continued its recovery from extensive storm damage.

At Town Hall on Tuesday afternoon, July 7, Emergency Management Director Michelle Hansen, who also serves as town treasurer, provided a timeline of the town’s response to the July 4 storm.

On July 4, around 7:30 p.m., right after the storm hit, Hansen said she made it to the Emergency Services Center on Route 7 with difficulty.

“It took an hour to get an eighth of a mile,” Hansen said.

She said she deployed town crews to cut up whatever trees they could – which excluded anything touching a wire. Responders worked until midnight, before returning six hours later.

The hardest hit roads were Warren Turnpike, Route 7 from Beebe Hill to Route 112, and Johnson Road.

No injuries were reported. “We were very lucky,” she said.

Initially there were 714 Falls Village households without power. By Tuesday afternoon, that number was down to eight and by Wednesday the power was fully restored.

The EMC was open Sunday and Monday for people to charge devices, get water, and use the showers. Housatonic Valley Regional High School opened temporarily offering similar services following the storm.

On the night of the storm, the EMC briefly hosted stranded travelers, who were trying to get to Salisbury, New Milford and points beyond. Hansen said the motorists stayed long enough to get directions on which roads were passable or to call friends and arrange to spend the remainder of the night.

Eversource started working in town Sunday afternoon. Earlier on Sunday, as the fire department volunteers and town crew employees made their way around town, they reported the locations of downed trees and wires to Hansen, who entered the information in Eversource’s municipal database, so the Eversource crew were properly briefed when they arrived.

Hansen declared a local state of emergency Sunday afternoon, which was lifted on Wednesday, July 8.

First Selectman Dave Barger said he had received offers of help from other towns, beginning with Kent First Selectman Eric Epstein, who offered the fire department or town crew help as early as 6 a.m. Sunday.

First Selectman Jesse Bunce of North Canaan followed with a similar offer a few minutes later, as did First Selectman Gordon Ridgway of Cornwall and First Selectman Henry Tirrell of Norfolk.