Strong winds, rain leave properties damaged

TORRINGTON — Sunday night’s windy, rainy storm left fallen trees and power lines in its wake across Connecticut, including homes in Torrington and Harwinton.

Jose and Christine Rivera and Christine’s father, David Levesque, were sitting in their home on Wildcat Hill Road in Harwinton Sunday when the storm blew through the area around 9 p.m.

“We heard rain and wind and didn’t think all that much of it,” said Jose Rivera, as he surveyed the damage to his yard and several outbuildings caused by downed trees.

“”We had no clue what was happening,” said Christine Rivera. “But when the storm was over, we looked out and we lost around a dozen large pine trees, and our chicken coop and another storage building were damaged. One of the buildings was lifted up and moved.

“The only thing I heard was a loud hum during the storm and I saw was a blue flash, which must have been the power line going out to the shed,” she said, adding that their house was not damaged.

Connecticut News 12 reported early Monday that Sunday night's storms led to thousands of power outages in southwestern Connecticut. Newtown, Fairfield and Wilton had several road closures as a result of the storm and Newtown public schools had a 2-hour delay Monday morning. The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Newtown Sunday, but there were no reports that a tornado occurred.

On Monday afternoon in Harwinton, about a half-dozen friends and workmen were cleaning the Riveras’ property, moving about uprooted trees and limbs with caution. A large pine tree, which hit power lines, was lying across Wildcat Hill Road just below the property, and the road was closed.

Elsewhere on upper Wildcat Hill Road, town crews were clearing debris that had fallen onto the road after trees had been removed.

A portion of Eno Avenue in Torrington was closed Monday while power company crews replaced equipment damaged by the storm. One resident living close by said she had been without power since Sunday evening.

A large tree narrowly missed a home at 342 New Harwinton Road (Route 4) and shut down one lane of traffic on the busy road. The owner of the home said no one was hurt and the house was not damaged, although there was some minor damage to a car that was near the downed pine tree, she said.

John Torsiello / For Hearst Connecticut Media A storm that blew in Sunday night left residents without power and properties and trees damaged in Harwinton and Torrington, as well as towns across the state. A large tree fell at 342 on Route 4 in Torrington.