hether the town of Westport has the infrastructure strength to withstand a major storm. About one month ago, a powerful snow storm hit Texas. While this storm would have had little to no meaning in the North, the infrastructure in Texas could not withstand the extreme cold and snow, causing hundreds of thousands of people to lose power and a number of deaths to occur across the tri-state area. The power was not gone for just a few days, however, but instead for almost a week, with people struggling to do work because of the raging Coronavirus Pandemic.

According to Westport’s Selectman Jim Marpe, “The grid has withstood many storms over the years, but trees are the leading cause for power outages in Westport. A tree or large branch may be blown over by high winds and take down utility poles and wires with them. Depending on where that pole is on the grid, the outage can be widespread.”
In early august, 2020, Westport was hit by Tropical Storm Isais. This storm destroyed power lines and trees, causing millions to lose power. This was especially bad since Westport is on the coast, causing major flooding.
“Living on the coast can also be destructive due to the high winds and storm surge that might occur near the coast. Most recently we saw the grid’s vulnerability with Tropical Storm Isaias, which took out over 97% of Westport’s electrical power this past August due to tree damage.”

According to Hamza Benatwala, resident of Westport, the power system has “let me down a couple of times. During minor storms, power could go out for days.” He then continued to compare Westport to other metropolitan areas. “I am also aware that many major metropolitan areas have underground power grids, which can prevent mass outages like we saw a few times this year.” However, it is unknown how much money it would cost to bury the power system in Westport.

Clearly, Westport’s power grid is vulnerable in many ways, and has fallen to many storms in Westport’s history.
The causes can be fallen trees or high winds, causing many Westporters and other people in Fairfield County to lose power for possibly long periods of time.