Update 1:36 p.m.:
At the peak, about 75 people used the emergency shelter at Darien High School overnight, First Selectman Jayme Stevenson said. The shelter then closed this morning, but it will be open again this evening for people to use again overnight.
Update 1:19 p.m.:
With power out, live power lines currently being deactivated and trees perhaps just cleared away by Halloween night (or perhaps not), Darien First Selectman Jayme Stevenson is advising parents not to have trick or treating on Halloween night.
Original article:
It may take two days to even start getting electric power restored as work crews go around town getting power lines de-activated and removing trees so streets are passable, First Selectman Jayme Stevenson said.
With power lines down across town, being a pedestrian on the road is dangerous, particularly for children, she said.
Stevenson, who was driving around town as she was interviewed by phone at about noon, said she had seen children, kids on bikes, parents with children and even parents with babies in strollers walking along the roads and sidewalks.
"I'm very concerned about that," she said. "The roads are unsafe, and we're encouraging people to stay off the roads if at all possible, and keep children safe."
Darien schools will be closed for another day tomorrow. Town Hall, which is closed today, may or may not be open tomorrow, she said.
"There's a tremendous number of people who are going to the beaches," Stevenson said. "They need to stay away from the beaches," at least for a couple of days, she said, until the town can make sure they're safe. "They're not safe at this time."
High tide, at around noon today, should bring salt water unusually high up, but not as bad as midnight did, she said. The midnight storm surge brought the worst of the flooding, but the surge was not as bad as state officials initially said it would be, Stevenson said.
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As most of the town waits for power to be restored, there are some places to visit that are open but some that are closed. See "" and tell us in the comments section there if you know of any other closings or places that are definitely open. If you're a business owner or manager, tell us today if you're open, and if you're still closed tomorrow, let everybody know that, too, with a post in the comments section. If you want to know whether a particular place is open, you can ask in the comments section and maybe somebody else can answer.
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Based on the evening predictions of state officials, including Gov. Dannel Malloy, Stevenson said, Darien asked residents to evacuate from a wider area than was indicated even by the worst-case scenario contemplated in the "Slosh" map that Darien officials publicized before the storm.
"The good news is that the storm surge was not as dire as the governor predicted in his second announcement" of Monday evening, Stevenson said. "I'm very grateful for that.
"I'm also grateful we didn't lose our sewer pump stations," she said. The pump stations are now out of danger of flooding.
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See also: Hurricane Sandy News Center for Darien, a central spot for Darien Patch's coverage of the expected storm. You can bookmark the page and quickly find all of our coverage, organized to help you get to it quicker and easier.
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Stevenson sent out another reverse 911 Code Red recorded telephone message to town residents this morning. Internet service is down at the Darien Emergency Operations Center, so emailing the text to news organizations was not possible, she said.
The town currently has five crews made up of CL&P workers combined with either Darien Department of Public Works crews or outside crews the town hired to clear trees, de-activate electric power lines and restore power, Stevenson said.
By noon, town officials had identified at least 30 roads in town that were blocked by trees. Trees need to be removed as fast as possible not only so that residents can get in and out but so that public safety vehicles, such as fire trucks, police cars and ambulances can get through, particularly in emergencies.
