Tornado watch issued as Ida brings heavy rain to state

Remnants of Ida, once a powerful hurricane, brought heavy rain to Connecticut Wednesday that was expected to continue into Thursday, raising concerns over flooding statewide.

A tornado watch was issued Wednesday night for Fairfield, Middlesex, New Haven, and New London counties, while a flash flood watch remains in effect until 2 p.m. Thursday.

Ida first made landfall near the Louisiana coast on Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane. The storm slammed into the Louisiana region, and began moving northeast.

Gov. Ned Lamont said Wednesday in a brief statement on Twitter that the state continues to track the storm as it moves northeast. Lamont said the state can expect to see heavy rain Wednesday evening into Thursday morning.

Forecasters and officials said Connecticut has seen an above average amount of rain in July and August, leaving the ground saturated, compounding the threat for flooding.

By the time Ida passes through the area, forecasters expect as much 3 to 6 inches of rainfall, coming down at a rate of 1 to 2 inches an hour at times. The highest rainfall amounts are expected to hit northeast New Jersey, the lower Hudson Valley in New York and southern Connecticut, according to the weather service.

There was also a low risk for isolated tornadoes Wednesday night, the weather service said.

With the heavy rain, meteorologists with the weather service were anticipating major flooding on the Yantic River near Norwich and moderate flooding on the Farmington River near Simsbury.