Seymour students collect items for Sandy victims

A note from Bungay Elementary School staff:

What an incredible amount of support Bungay Elementary School received from our students and staff for those in need due to Hurricane Sandy.

So many people donated clothing, non-perishable food, flashlights, and other essential items in support of our fellow Americans. 

Thank you to Rich Kearns and several fifth graders for helping load the items on a school bus and prepare the supplies to be transported.

It is an excellent learning experience for our children to see acts of kindness and giving to people in distress.

Derby students, Griffin help Sandy victims

Derby High School students who collected donations are from left, Jonathan Mercado, Jailen Mercado, Lynsey Gallagher, and Justin Mercado. / Contributed photo



DERBY - Students from Derby High School stopped by Griffin Hospital Nov. 8 to collect donations of water, food, clothing, and other necessities for those affected by Hurricane Sandy in the Rockaway Beach section of Queens, N.Y.
Griffin Hospital donated 64 cases of bottled water and 60 boxed lunches for the volunteers while hospital employees donated necessities like clothes and batteries.


This information was provided by Griffin Hospital.

Drive in Shelton Saturday to aid Sandy victims

SHELTON - The Colonial League of American Youth Football and Cheer will host a Hurricane Sandy Relief Drive during its State Cheer Competitions from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at Shelton High School, 120 Meadow St.
Donations will help residents of Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Many families are in need of the following items: blankets, clean clothing, flashlights, lanterns, batteries, scarves, boots, mittens, hats, shoes, towels, baby food, formula, diapers, bottles, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, toiletries, non-perishable food, water, pet food, school supplies, coloring books, crayons, and small toys.


This information was taken from an e-mail from Seymour resident Alex Danka.  

Chamber of Commerce shares info on storm assistance

Note: The following is from an e-mail from Bill Purcell, President, Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce:

Although Hurricane Sandy is a week behind us - and now we have seen the first flakes fly for the winter season - there is still much cleanup ahead.
For those businesses who have suffered from this storm, we want to share this information from CT DECD Commissioner Catherine Smith:

"As we continue on the path to recovery after Hurricane Sandy, I wanted to remind impacted businesses about resources available to them.

FEMA
Federal assistance has been made available through FEMA. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced that those affected in Fairfield, New Haven, Middlesex, and New London Counties must register with FEMA by phone or online to receive aid.


To register by phone, call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362). The TTY line for people with speech or hearing disabilities is 1-800-462-7585. The line is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.

- To register online, applications may be completed at www.disasterassistance.gov.

- For disaster assistance questions, call the FEMA helpline at 1-800-621-3362.

State officials and FEMA are assessing damage in Litchfield, Hartford, Tolland and Windham counties to determine if they will be eligible for aid. Residents and businesses in those counties should dial 2-1-1 or go online at www.211ct.org to report their damage.

SBA
The Small Business Administration will be offering loans to homeowners, businesses, and non-profit organizations. You can access a SBA Disaster Assistance online at www.sba.gov/disasteror call the Buffalo call center at 800-659-2955.

Finally, businesses can contact our agency about the financial and technical resources that may be available to them. To talk to a DECD representative call 860-270-8105."

Purcell added, "As your Chamber gets additional information to help our area businesses affected by Hurricane Sandy we will share both via email and our Social Media Channels, including our Chamber Facebook business page."

Kudos go out to 2 Valley women working to help others

Two local business owners are doing their part to help victims of last week's devastating visit by Superstorm Sandy.


Adrienne Hofmann of Beacon Falls and Nicole Heriot of Ansonia are collecting items to be distributed to Connecticut residents affected by the storm.

Adrienne Hofmann, left and Nicole Heriot sort through donations earlier this week. / Contributed photo


Donations may be dropped off at 326 Derby Ave., Derby through 6 p.m. Friday.

For information, call Hofmann at 203-437-1517 or Heriot at 917-576-9147.

Property repair assistance offered

Information taken from a release from Charles Sampson, Director, Derby Office of Emergency Management:

"It is important that businesses and residents that experienced property damages register with the Federal Government as assistance will be made available to them through FEMA to rebuild or repair their property. 

"They must go online (http://www.disasterassistance.gov/) or call (1-800-621-3362) to register for disaster  assistance. 
"FEMA is coordinating efforts to set up multiple Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) across the State.  Once the DRCs are set up we will forward the information."

Post-Sandy work continues

A worker from Belletti's Total Tree Service in Seymour cuts into the trunk of a once-stately tree next to Irving School in Derby Saturday afternoon. Patricia Villers/Register

Valley Chamber offers loan info from SBA

As with past storms, the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce office is fortunate to have power.

For those of you without power, you are welcome to come and use our space for everything from recharging or Wi-Fi to using our conference room for staff meetings or just to warm up. 

  

For those businesses who have suffered from this storm, we want to share this information from the CT SBA:  

The disaster declaration covers the counties of Fairfield, Middlesex, New Haven, New London, and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and Mohegan Tribal Nation located within New London in Connecticut, which are eligible for both Physical and Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the SBA. 

Small businesses and most private non-profit organizations in the following adjacent counties are eligible to apply only for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans: Hartford, Litchfield, Tolland, and Windham in Connecticut; Dutchess, Putnam, and Westchester in New York; Kent and Washington in Rhode Island.
 

Disaster loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace disaster damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible up to $40,000 to repair or replace disaster damaged or destroyed personal property.
 

Businesses and private non-profit organizations of any size may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets.

The SBA may increase a loan up to 20 percent of the total amount of disaster damage to real estate and/or leasehold improvements, as verified by SBA, to make improvements that lessen the risk of property damage by future disasters of the same kind.
 

For small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private non-profit organizations of all sizes, the SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster. Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any physical property damage.

Interest rates are as low as 1.688 percent for homeowners and renters, 3 percent for non-profit organizations and 4 percent for businesses with terms up to 30 years. Loan amounts and terms are set by the SBA and are based on each applicant's financial condition.

Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application via SBA's secure website,  https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.
 

To be considered for all forms of disaster assistance, applicants should register at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by mobile device at m.fema.gov . If online or mobile access is unavailable, applicants should call the FEMA toll-free Helpline, 800-621-3362.

Those who use 711-Relay or Video Relay Services should call 800-621-3362. 

Additional details on the locations of Disaster Recovery Centers and the loan application process can be obtained by calling the SBA Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or by sending an e-mail to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is Dec. 31, 2012. The deadline to return economic injury applications is July 31, 2013.

As we get additional information to help area businesses affected by Hurricane Sandy we will share both via email and our Social Media Channels  including our Chamber Facebook business page. 

The above information was provided by Bill Purcell, President, Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Ansonia offers overnight shelter

    ANSONIA - With an anticipated drop in temperatures, Mayor James Della Volpe announced this morning that the City of Ansonia is providing overnight sheltering for those still without power.
    The Joseph Doyle Senior Center, located on 153 Main St. will open its doors to Ansonia residents needing a warm place to sleep.
    Cots will be provided but residents are asked to bring necessary medications along with bedding (blankets, pillows). Please, bring some form of identification. Residents will also be able to charge their cell phones at this location.
     The senior center will be open from 5 p.m.-8 a.m. for overnight sheltering.
     The Valley YMCA, 12 State St. is offering showers and cell phone charging outlets to residents in need. They also ask that you provide identification.
    Pets will not be allowed at this overnight shelter.

Ansonia extends dumping hours

 From the City of Ansonia website:

 

As a result of Hurricane Sandy, Superintendent of Public Works Mike Schryver announced that Saturday's dumping hours at the transfer station have been extended.

Ansonia residents can utilize the transfer station from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 3).

Seymour schools to open Friday

From Seymour First Selectman Kurt Miller's Facebook page: There will be school in
Seymour Friday.

Charge phone, shower at Seymour Middle School

From Seymour First Selectman's Facebook page:

"Seymour Middle School is open as a charging & showering facility again today from 6 AM to 8 PM."

Correction: "the Seymour Middle School will be open from 8am-10am and then again from 6pm-8pm. We have made the change in the last few minutes."

 

School closings

From the City of Ansonia website:

Due to road closures, Ansonia schools are closed, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012. 

And from Seymour First Selectman Kurt Miller's Facebook Page:

"School will be closed tomorrow. I am sorry for the delay in the decision but we tried to do the best we could with a difficult situation." 

Seymour school decision will be made by 8 p.m.

"A decision on school will be made by 8 pm. Crews are currently working to get the high school up and running. As soon as the decision is made by the Superintendent, I will post it."

This is from Seymour First Selectman Kurt Miller's Facebook page.

Power returns to Seymour Town Hall

From the office of Seymour First Selectman Kurt Miller's Facebook Page:

"Town Hall has power back and will be open tomorrow from 8 a.m. until 5:30 pm. The Town Clerk's office will also be open on Friday from 9 a.m. until noon. More information will follow."

Sandy stuns Seymour

Residents deal with fallen trees, power outages

Pine tree crashed on top of two cars in driveway of home at Oakwood Drive in Seymour.

 A tree fell across South Main Street, downing power lines.
  

This tree fell across Wycliffe Terrace.

 And this is another view.

Large pine tree fell on a house on Rimmon Hill Road.


Photos by Register Correspondent Jean Falbo-Sosnovich.

Naugatuck Valley communities dodge fallen trees from Hurricane Sandy

By Jean Falbo-Sosnovich
Register Correspondent
and Patricia Villers
Register Staff

If you didn’t live immediately along the coastline the biggest inconvenience residents faced was a loss of power and downed trees, and the Naugatuck Valley was no different.

Seymour

First Selectman Kurt Miller said both large and small trees fell, taking power lines down with them, all over town, including Wycliff Terrance and South Main Street. Several streets remained closed until power crews can assess the situations. The trees have to be removed first before workers can get the power restored.

“Our teams are out again today focusing on opening up roadways, as there are many closed right now,” Miller said. “CL&P has provided us our own line and tree crew team that can work with our emergency personnel and public works to achieve this. As of right now, we are still assessing damage and have no estimates for power restoration.”

The emergency shelter at Seymour Middle School will be open Wednesday until 8 p.m. for residents to shower, charge their phones and stay warm, but there will be no food or overnight accommodations available.

Miller said the police department and Seymour Ambulance Association are open as charging stations and have water. Both fire departments also have water available.

Miller applauded residents for their patience, and all of the staff and volunteers who have helped the town since the storm began.

Ansonia resident Joe Morley went to check on his mom, who lives on Wycliff Terrace in Seymour, but was stopped dead in his tracks three times, due to massive trees laid out across various roads. A huge oak tree on Wycliff uprooted sometime overnight Tuesday, taking down power lines and knocking out power to surrounding neighborhoods.

“She (my mom) lives right on the other side of that tree,” Morley said. “I want to check on her to see how she’s doing.”

Russ Gloersen of Pearl Street was without power since Monday afternoon, and said he’s been “catching up on his sleep” during the outage. He picked up some cold medicine at CVS Tuesday, and was driving around and looking at some of the storm damage.

It was a tree on South Main Street that cracked in half and landed on power lines that took Gloerson’s power out.

Allison Bopp, of Warren Drive, lost power around 4 a.m. Tuesday morning. Luckily, she had an electrician come last month and outfitted the home with a generator. In anticipation of Halloween, Boop’s daughters spent the day carving and painting pumpkins.

Miller said he was unsure yet if Halloween could go on as planned tomorrow night, due to safety issues.

Derby

Derby Mayor Anthony Staffieri said Tuesday afternoon his city “weathered the storm pretty well. The rain event wasn’t there like originally predicted, but we had wind damage.”

The wind knocked down trees, and knocked out power to a good number of households, including Staffieri’s home in east Derby. He said the electricity went off at about 5 p.m. Monday. “I ended up reading a book by candlelight,” he said. “That was different.”

Staffieri said he had done a lot of driving around the entire city to assess damage over the past 24 hours and saw a lot of downed trees.

Staffieri said no one used the emergency shelter that had been set up at Derby Middle School. “No one even called to ask about it. Nobody was in need.”

Most of Derby’s east side remained without power, and traffic lights at busy intersections along Route 34 were not working, making travel difficult. City officials encouraged people to stay home so workers could begin the restoration process.

Trash pick-up was suspended Tuesday and is expected to resume Wednesday.

The Community Center, at 35 Fifth St., is open for residents without power, affording residents an opportunity to shower and charge their electronics. It will open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Residents need to bring their own toiletries.

Ansonia

About a dozen people took refuge Monday night at an emergency shelter at Ansonia High School.

Ansonia Rescue Medical Services member Bob Bialek said the shelter closed Tuesday.

“We had a full crew on overnight, both staff and volunteers,” Bialkes said. “It was an uneventful night.” He said everyone had food provided by cafeteria staff, including a hot dinner of chicken and rice.

By 10:30 a.m. all of the clients who had stayed had returned home.

“We had a mother with two teen daughters come in," he said. “A tree brushed their house and took down power lines, so she decided they would be better off here.”

Bialek said a wind gust Monday night ”sucked all the doors wide open and blew the doormats” down the sidewalk in front of the school.

Bialek said he went home for four hours’ rest and his Prospect Street home had lost power.

He also commended the custodians and police personnel who were on hand for the duration.

School closings

Public schools in Ansonia, Derby, Seymour, and Shelton are closed Wednesday, officials have announced.

Storm's aftermath in Ansonia

The roof of this Ansonia house seems to have dodged a bullet during Sandy's wrath.

Do you have photos of storm damage to share? If so, e-mail me at pvillers@nhregister.com and I will post them here.

Sandy snarls Valley traffic

I took a drive around parts of Derby and Ansonia this afternoon and can report that many traffic lights at major intersections were not working.

This is what greeted drivers who were headed down Pulaski Highway (Route 243) and planned to turn left onto Prindle Avenue in Ansonia. A utility truck can be seen on Prindle Avenue late Tuesday afternoon.
The power outage reportedly affected Platt Street and Elm Street, including the Ansonia Police Department. The same outage also affected Academy Hill Road, David Humphreys Road, and other streets off of those main thoroughfares in Derby's Hilltop section.