GLASTONBURY, Conn. — The aftermath of Tropical Storm Isaias has caused a number of challenges for people without power, as well as the crews working to get that power back on. Neighborhoods around Connecticut are still in the dark, still dealing with downed wires and trees, and the frustration, is still building.
"It's just been an emotional rollercoaster. You know one day you have power, the next it's gone, it's just up and down the whole time," said Nelli, a Glastonbury resident.
Sunday morning, 34% of Glastonbury was still without power. People in hard-hit areas like that town are now just doing what they can to get by.
"The generator is up to keep the fridge going, you're changing fuel on that every four to six hours, we've got a three-year-old at home, trying to keep her occupied," said Brian Vadney, of Glastonbury.
The more days that go by, the more questions people have for power companies. One of the most common from Eversource customers, "what does it mean when the status of your outage says 'evaluating' and why is it taking so long?"
"Damage assessment is done at the same time that restoration is taking place wherever possible. Right now we have our town-by-town estimates available on the web site and that's what we recommend to customers," said Mitch Gross, an Eversource spokesperson. "There's extensive tree damage everywhere, there's over six-thousand trees that need to be addressed so our crews can continue the work," he said.
He says crews have been facing challenges of their own associated with that tree damage, and that not every issue is the same.
"While in some cases it may be simple repairs such as going up in the bucket truck, reattaching something and moving on, in many, many cases we're talking about rebuilding sections of the electric delivery system from the ground up. Putting in new utility poles, the new cross arms, new lines, rehanging everything. Unfortunately, that's not a quick fix," said Gross.
As their work continues, Eversource is estimating 90 percent of its customers will have power back by the end of Sunday.
"We get it. We understand the sense of urgency. We're on it, we'll stay on it. We know what you're going through, we're gonna get you back as quickly and safely as we can," said Gross.
However, those who have already gone nearly a week without power, thrown their food away, paid for extra gas for generators, say all they can do now is hope they're part of that 90 percent.
"It is what it is, you just have to live one day at a time I guess," said Nelli.