HARTFORD, Conn. (WTIC Radio)—Thousands of Connecticut residents woke up without power Christmas Day morning following a harsh storm overnight of strong winds and heavy rain.
Just over 35,000 Eversource customers experienced power outages early Christmas Day. Newtown experienced the most outages with over 3,500 customers impacted around 7 a.m. Friday morning.
New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart was one of those thousands experiencing a power outage.
At 5:44 a.m., the mayor tweeted to Eversource saying, "No power." Her power was restored about four hours later.
Eversource prepared for the storm to hit the state with crew and equipment pre-positioned and ready to respond to any outages.
According to spokesperson Tricia Modifica, vacations were cancelled and crews outside of Connecticut came in to help ensure a good response.
By 10 a.m. Friday, the number of power outages for Eversource customers started to dwindle with over 26-thousand reported customers with the power out that hour.
United Illuminating customers also faced power outages. The utility company reported over 400 customers early Friday morning, but crews were out responding to those outages.