Strong storm sweeps Conn.
Heavy winds left thousands without power
A powerful late-autumn storm swept over the region Sunday night, bringing high winds and heavy rain that knocked out power for tens of thousands of residents.
On Monday, the storm dumped more than 4 inches of rain on parts of the state and produced wind gusts of up to 66 mph along the coast.
Eversource, the state’s largest electrical utility, reported more than 61,000 outages remained as of around 3 p.m. Monday. United Illuminating, which serves the greater Bridgeport and New Haven regions, reported more than 400 customers without power around that same time.
Eversource’s outages across the state appeared to peak above 85,000 around 9:30 a.m. Meanwhile, UI said its outages peaked at 6,800 around 6 a.m.
In a post on X Sunday night, Eversource warned that with the ground already saturated and tree branches weakened from a prior storm, the winds were “expected to cause damage.”
“We’re pre-positioning crews to respond, including additional contract crews,” the utility company said.
A spokesperson for UI said the company had prepared for as many as 10,000 outages. Most should see their power come back on within 12 hours, the spokesperson said, and that all should be fully restored within 24 to 48 hours.
The National Weather Service said the heavy rain brought on by the storm would “create mainly localized areas of flash flooding, with urban areas, roads, and small streams the most vulnerable.”
Danbury was one such area to see standing water.
Bethel resident Robin Grant was driving her Subaru Impreza through Rodgers Park when she decided to ford a puddle.
“It was dark so I didn’t see not only that there was a puddle, but that the puddle went on,” she said. “By the time I got halfway through, I’m like, ‘Well, I guess I’m in this, let’s see how far we can go.’ ”
Grant’s Subaru became stuck and submerged in the water, and she had to wait until a little before 9 a.m. for roadside assistance to tow her car. She believes her vehicle may be totaled, though she is safe.
“Don’t try to ford the puddle,” she said. “It’s not the Oregon Trail; we’re not going to make it across.”
In Greenwich, it wasn’t the flooding that caused problems for Andrea Dean but the wind.
Dean, a resident of Old Greenwich, had a rude awakening early Monday morning when a branch busted through her roof and into her bedroom.
“It startled me and woke me up,” she said. “I turned on my lamp and I saw the tree through the roof.”
She was not injured. When reached by phone in the morning, she was waiting for the building inspector to come by and hoped the branch would be removed and a tarp would be placed over the hole later in the day.
Roads in towns across the state were closed Monday morning due to flooding and fallen trees. In Middletown, an ambulance that went to pick up a sick child on Maromas Road was blocked from getting out by a fallen tree.
The South District Fire Department made a priority call to Eversource, who responded and the patient was OK, according to South District Fire Chief James Trzaski.
Guilford police reported more than a dozen roads fully or partially closed because of downed trees and wires. One tree fell on a patrol car, they said, but the officer was not injured.
In New Canaan, Emergency Management Director Russ Kimes said 10 roads in New Canaan are blocked by barricades because of downed wires, trees and branches and he urged all drivers to “Treat them all as if they are live and extremely dangerous.” Luckily, he said many other roads had reports of tree limbs down on wires, but were still passable.
The storm caused dozens of school districts to close, mostly in northeastern Connecticut, while dozens of others announced two or three-hour delays.
Hundreds of flights were canceled at New York area airports, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking service, and Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks also saw delays.
Delays also cropped up on Metro-North Railroad, specifically the New Haven line, and the Cross Sound Ferry from New London to Long Island also canceled trips Monday.
The weather service’s New York office had forecasted up to 5 to 6 inches of rain could fall Monday morning. In Danbury, as much as 4.4 inches of rain fell on The Hat City, according to the weather service. Other parts of the state saw between 1 and 4 inches of rain.
In Stamford, wind gusts hit 66 mph, according to the weather service, while several other spots along the Connecticut shoreline also recorded winds in excess of 50 mph.
On Monday afternoon, most of the state was still under wind advisories, while high wind warnings were issued for areas along the coast until 4 p.m. The rain had mostly left the region by mid afternoon but a flood warning remained in effect until Monday evening in much of northern Connecticut.
The NWS said Connecticut on Tuesday would have clear and sunny skies, temperatures in the mid 40s and a light wind.