With the damage that Tropical Storm Isaias brought to Connecticut, United States President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for the state.
Governor Ned Lamont said the powerful storm disrupted electrical power to hundreds of thousands of residences and knocked down trees across the state.
The governor spoke with the US president on Thursday night to discuss the situation and advise him to make the decision immediately. The emergency order would allow Connecticut to request federal assistance.
Debilitating storm
According to Patch, approximately 52,000 United Illuminating and 415,000 Eversource customers have continued to have no electrical power on Friday morning. Analysts say it could take until Tuesday for Eversource to restore electricity to nearly all of its customers.
Lamont said approval of the emergency order was very much needed as several hundreds of thousands of citizens in the state suffered through the disaster without electrical power for several days.
The governor said they are continuing efforts and are coordinating with federal and local authorities to monitor damage to the state and make necessary requests for assistance from federal bodies to help with response, recovery, and rebuilding.
The emergency order would also provide local towns with full reimbursement for any costs of damages brought by the storm.
Lamon's administration is currently assessing the damage to the state and will discuss if they will apply for a major disaster declaration which would provide local towns with more federal assistance to help with damage costs.
Senator Richard Blumenthal said a major disaster declaration would give homeowners who have suffered proprietary damages additional aid for repairs.
On Friday, the Connecticut National Guard joined forces with more than 1,750 utility crews in the state to assist with clearing fallen trees and attempt to restore electrical power to over 400,0000 homes and businesses affected by the storm, as reported by US News.
Slowly repairing damages
Eversource had nearly 1,200 personnel working through the state of Connecticut while United Illuminating sent out 580 crews to the field. United Illuminating said power would be nearly entirely restored by Monday.
State regulators have ordered an investigation to assess the preparation and response of both power suppliers to the storm that disrupted electricity to more than 700,000 households and brought winds with gusts of more than 60 mph that felled trees and electrical wires.
On Friday, the National Weather Service confirmed a waterspout that had evolved into a tornado in Long Island Sound made landfall in Westport on Tuesday afternoon. A private meteorologist captured video footage of the event and showed it ripping the roof off of a residential home and causing other severe damages.
According to FEMA, federal disaster assistance was made available to Connecticut to support state, tribal, and local response teams severely affected by Tropical Storm Isaias on August 4.
The agency's website also states that Connecticut has access to funds to use for emergency protective measures. The government would provide support to all eight counties within the state. The assistance would also extend to the Mashantucket Pequot Indian Tribe and Mohegan Tribe of Indians.
