Plumbers and firefighters busy as deep freeze busts water pipes
Monday's going to be a busy day for plumbers.
With Saturday night's record-breaking low temperatures, which plummeted to minus 8 degrees with wind chills much lower, pipes in many homes and businesses across the region froze.
Some property owners discovered frozen and broken pipes throughout the day on Sunday as area fire departments responded to calls across the region ranging from a beauty shop in Norwich to Pfizer in Groton. More water problems are expected Monday as temperatures rise and water begins flowing through the broken water lines.
On Sunday afternoon, The Avalon Health Center at Stoneridge evacuated 36 residents after a sprinkler pipe burst, flooding the hallways and common spaces in the nursing home and two residents' rooms.
The residents, most sitting in wheelchairs and a few lying in hospital beds, were temporarily relocated to the facility’s auditorium while Old Mystic firefighters responded to the scene about 4 p.m.
No injuries were reported, but all residents of the Avalon Center were relocated to two New London nursing homes for the night while state health department officials assessed the damage.
Emergency response personnel used ambulances and Stoneridge passenger vans to move the patients to the New London facilities.
The damage could take up to 48 hours to repair, according to Old Mystic Fire Chief Kenneth W. Richards Jr.
Avalon is the skilled nursing component of the Stoneridge facility.
On Sunday night, Old Mystic firefighters responded to Mystic Health and Rehabilitation Center on High Street, where two pipes had burst.
By 9:15 p.m., firefighters were still evaluating whether residents should be evacuated from that facility.
Gary Lessor, meteorologist and assistant director with The Weather Center at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, said temperatures were expected to climb from the single digits Sunday night to the 30s late Monday.
"We're basically going to go on a roller coaster," Lessor said.
Snow showers are expected along the shoreline Monday afternoon and as temperatures climb into the 30s later in the evening, the snow should turn to rain by the seacoast and freezing rain farther inland. Up to a tenth of an inch of ice could accumulate in the Norwich area.
That ice could cause slick driving conditions Monday, Lessor said.
Temperatures in the region will go from 28 degrees below the 30-year average to 14 degrees above average by Wednesday, Lessor said.
The weather will stay at average or warmer-than-average through the next 10 days, but another blast of cold air will bring winter back at last into the middle of March.
Saturday night's deep freeze also took a toll on car batteries as the Connecticut chapter of the American Automobile Association responded to more than three times the number of calls it typically receives on a Sunday, according to spokeswoman Amy Parmenter.
As of 4:30 pm Sunday, AAA Emergency Roadside Service had helped more than 1,700 motorists with more calls expected through the night. Most of the calls were for dead batteries. AAA responds to calls using a mix of their own responders and private contractors, such as local garages.
"When we have a big event such as this we make sure to have as many people available as possible (to help motorists)," she said. "We're handling it the best we can. It was basically all hands on deck."
The Aquarion Water Co., which serves customers in Mystic and Stonington, reminded property owners that even a tiny split in a pipe can spew hundreds of gallons of water into a home or business in one day.
The company offered several suggestions to prevent pipes from freezing.
These include letting a faucet fed by pipes exposed to the cold to drip, never completely shutting off the heat in a building unless all the pipes and toilets are drained first and keeping doors to rooms where the pipes and water meter are located, including sink cabinets, open so warm air can keep temperatures above freezing.
Other suggestions include eliminating drafts near pipes and water meters by filling cracks in walls and around windows, replacing broken glass, and installing storm windows on basement windows.
Pipes can be unfrozen using attended hair dryers and heating pads, but experts warn never to use a torch or open flame.
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