A strong storm moved through Connecticut overnight, bringing high winds and heavy rain, knocking out power to tens of thousands of customers statewide. Thousands remained in the dark as of Friday night.
Temperatures Friday night are expected in the 40s and 30s and some areas dip below freezing. For more on the forecast, click here.
Storm Causes Power Outages
Eversource reported more than 16,000 customers without power as of 11 p.m.
Governor Ned Lamont said during a news conference on Friday morning that the severe storm had knocked power out to close to 100,000 and crews have been out all night long.
Get the latest information on Eversource outages here.
Eversource said it has called in private electrical contractors and tree contractors to assist with repairs, as well as additional help from New York, Pennsylvania and Kentucky.
Get updates on United Illuminating outages here.
Dealing With Storm Damage
Local
There is widespread damage across Connecticut. High winds took down trees and power lines in towns from western Connecticut to areas of eastern Connecticut.
At times, winds gusted to more than 60 miles per hour, according to NBC Connecticut First Alert meteorologist Bob Maxon.
In New Britain, a large tree came down in a parking lot of an apartment complex on Sexton Street and damaged four vehicles.
A tree came down on a house in New London and took wires and four utility poles along with it.
Storm Causes Road Closures, Bus and Rail Issues
Hundreds of state and local roads were closed Friday morning, and some remained closed into the evening. Check with your community's police department for the latest updates.
Route 4 was closed in West Hartford near Reservoir Road because of downed trees and power lines across the road, according to police.
In Avon, Route 10 is closed and part of Route 17 is closed in Middletown. Many smaller roads are also closed in towns statewide.
In Vernon, Route 30 is partially open between Tunnel Road and Cold Spring Drive, but police urge people to avoid the area until Eversource is done working in the area. Bolton Road is closed at Bamforth Road and Bamforth is also closed between Bolton and Baker Road.
In Westport, Newtown Turnpike is closed at Crawford Road, Railroad Place is closed at the railroad underpass, Beachside Avenue is closed at Sasco Creek, Weston Road is closed at Daybreak Lane and Bayberry Lane is closed at the Weston line.
See the full list on the CT Travel Smart website.
Metro-North service was suspended between New Haven and Westport, but it has been restored.
A Fecebook post from Metro-North says a fallen tree damaged the catenary in the area between Milford and New Haven around 12:30 a.m.
Power was disrupted and service was halted between New Haven and Westport as well as on the Waterbury Branch.
A downed tree on the New Canaan Branch also knocked out service and crews worked through the night to make repairs.
By 7:45 a.m., service was restored to two tracks on the New Haven Line between Westport and New Haven and service was restored to the New Canaan Line around 9 a.m.
On the Waterbury Line, busing was provided and service will resume with the 12:54 p.m. in Bridgeport.
“To say that we had a very bad night is an understatement,” Giulietti, said during a news conference Friday morning. “It began late last night with the trains in Cos Cob experiencing power when the wind started blowing and it started picking up. After that, there was a general deterioration that started at 1:15 this morning. We found that we lost all the tracks in West Haven with trees coming down, taking out both the signal power and the electrical power that was going on.”
Danbury Branch line has regular service.
Go to Metro-North's website for updates.
Amtrak service was halted in the Northeast corridor, according to officials.
An Amtrak train carrying 150 people was stopped for seven hours, according to the governor. Get updates here.
Power outages and downed trees also affected CT Rail service.
Get Shoreline East updates here.
Get CT Rail Hartford Line updates here.
Bus routes were also affected.
As of 9 a.m., 13 bus routes were impacted in the Hartford area and two were arrected in the New Haven area. Anyone planning ot use bus service is urged to go to the CT Transit website to check for updates.
“Every time we take down a tree, there’s always an issue over taking down the trees. You’ve also heard in all the reports today about the number of trees that have been hit with the invasive species that are dead,” Giulietti said. “One of the things we have to concentrate on is the fact that you can’t have things like this that are shutting down every transit system we have out there. It’s shutting down the highways. It’s shutting down the rail systems and it truly is something that we’re experiencing more and more.”
Schools Closed or Delayed
Power outages were being reported in dozens of towns, which has led to school closings and delays on Friday. See the full list here.
In Wethersfield, the football game against Middletown had to be postponed because Eversource could not guarentee power would be restored to the field in time for the game.
