Greenwich in Near-Total Darkness: Blame It on the Flag
After wind gusts of up to 65 mph swept through Fairfield County on Saturday night, June 6, Greenwich residents woke up on Sunday to a major, town-wide blackout. At its peak, a staggering 28,097 Eversource customers in Greenwich—roughly 98.9% of the town—were completely without power.
But this wasn't your typical story of fallen tree branches. The culprit? A massive piece of Americana.
Blame it on the Flag
According to Eversource and local officials, the chaos began at 9:00 PM on Saturday when howling winds ripped the massive American flag off the roof of the new World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) headquarters in downtown Stamford. The runaway flag drifted directly into a high-voltage transmission structure near the Stamford Metro-North station, wrapping itself around the wires and immediately catching fire.
Initially, the entanglement only knocked out power to about 5,000 nearby Stamford residents. However, the real headache began around 1:00 PM on Sunday. As utility crews worked to remove the charred fabric, a sudden gust of wind shifted the flag, causing it to bridge the gap to a second, fully energized transmission circuit. The resulting arc triggered a massive secondary blackout, instantly plunging nearly all of Greenwich into darkness.
Widespread Impact
The sudden afternoon blackout caused widespread disruptions across town. Local businesses were forced to shutter mid-day, and traffic signals along major arteries like the Post Road went dark, forcing police to urge drivers to treat every major intersection as a four-way stop.
A wave of event cancellations followed—including the highly anticipated Greenwich Symphony event at the J House. Metro-North service was also temporarily delayed due to localized power issues near the Cos Cob station.
Update: On Monday, Town Hall announced a delayed mid-day opening and the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) meeting, originally scheduled for Monday June 8, was postponed to the following week. This RTM meeting, the last of the fiscal year, is scheduled to vote on a long list of issues, most notably, the controversial speed camera program. See story here.
Power Restored Quickly
Fortunately, Eversource crews isolated the problem relatively quickly given the scale of the damage. By 7:00 PM on Sunday, power was restored to the vast majority of Greenwich residents.
Between the Lines: With alternative Pride flags waving at rallies across Greenwich and Stamford all weekend, the American flag claimed its ground, in the ultimate WWE revenge of the flag.