With the holiday week over people across Connecticut are slipping back into their regular routines, but this cold weather is making that more difficult than usual.
The cold weather complicated some students' return to schools. Several districts made the decision to delay or cancel classes Tuesday to prevent kids from coming to class during the coldest hours of the morning.
In New Britain, the Smalley and Lincoln Schools in New Britain are closed today because of heating issues.
The Smith School in Glastonbury closed for the day after heating units on the roof froze and a pipe burst in the ceiling, causing tiles and water to damage a couple of classrooms.
The superintendent said the building has heat, but it is not working properly in all of the rooms. It's not clear when the school might reopen.
The issue also caused buses to be late to pick up elementary students.
The Nathan Hale Arts Magnet School in New London is closed for the week after pipes burst in the freezing temperatures.
In Woodbridge, Beecher Road School was on a two-hour delay because of a pipe that froze and burst in a sixth-grade classroom over the weekend. Two Meriden schools - Hanover and John Barry School, had sprinkler pipes burst, and Hanover dismissed at 11 a.m.
The Prendergast School in Ansonia was canceled today due to a water pipe breaking.
For the latest information on school closings and delays, click here.
The cold is also a problem for vehicles. AAA says it has had record call volume between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. and more than 225 calls for help.
The company said calls have soared in the past week and they expected dead battery calls to be an issue this morning.
Despite the New Year’s holiday, AAA says their call volume was the highest it’s been since this cold snap started. At one point, calls approached 200 an hour. AAA said they’ve received over 10,000 calls in the last week in the Greater Hartford area.
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Experts say the ongoing freezing temperatures are putting more stress on batteries, and that vehicles that have sat idle outside over the holiday may not start Tuesday morning.
The cold air also impacts tire pressure. Experts advise drivers fill theirs up before you hit the road to avoid a flat.
AAA also recommends drivers prepare for the worst before they head out – even on short trips. Drivers are advised to have a fully charged phone, a full tank of gas, and an emergency kit with warm clothing, a blanket, snacks, and any required medication, in case of a breakdown.
The temperatures are also causing issues on the roads themselves. In Berlin, crews are on Robindale Drive trying to fix the second water main break on this block since Sunday.
"The freeze-frost cycle, it’s so cold the ground’s shifting and moving and as the pipes are laying there, as the ground freezes and moves it cracks the pipes like this here," explained John Connery, a maintenance tech for the Kensington Fire District.
The water’s been shut off to about 20 homes on Robindale Drive.
For the latest weather information, click here.
