First Selectman Matt Riiska declared a state of emergency Tuesday morning as the major snowstorm swept over Northwest Connecticut. This allows the town to take advantage of any service and funding that may become available through the state or the federal government.
Working with the local emergency management and the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS), the town applied for assistance through the Region 5 Public Works Mutual Aid Plan. Wednesday morning public works crews from Watertown and Thomaston came to Norfolk with equipment and crews to assist in the cleanup.
“This was a great help,” said Riiska, expressing his gratitude for the assistance.
The Emergency Management Team was in place from early Tuesday morning until Wednesday night, monitoring the public works radios, tracking outages, monitoring Eversource activities, keeping track of road closures and keeping track road blockages from trees and down wires.
The Public Works crew was out from 1:00 a.m. Tuesday until 8:00 p.m. that night and then again from 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday until 6:00 p.m., but still the work is not complete. Riiska said the cleanup of downed trees and branches will continue for some time.