Flash flooding and severe winds overnight kept first responders in several towns busy.
Throughout parts of the Southeast portion of Connecticut, utility crews worked around the clock to cut down trees for and clear the streets for drivers after powerful winds and flooding swept through the area.
One of the many factors that New London dealt with was flash flooding, according to Public Works Director Brian Sear.
“The water came off the river and was even higher than the road at one point, so there really was no place for the water to drain,” said Sear. “We’re keeping the catch basins clean because there’s a lot of leaves coming down and they clog really easily.”
The high winds caused several trees to fall over on dozens of homes, power lines and even a landscaper. Firefighters said the tree came crashing down on the man on Ocean Avenue and Shirley Lane just after 9 a.m. Crews were able to extricate the man and he was transported to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital.
Chief Battalion Chief Jonathan Paige said the weather caused at least four trees to fall over Thursday morning, and flash flooding had fire crews stepping into action Wednesday night.
“Over the beginning of the day, it’s increasingly gotten worse as the day has gone by and we’ve had multiple incidents with trees coming down throughout the city,” Paige said. “There were a number of water rescues throughout the city and at least three to four cars overcrowded by water.”
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Maureen Smith just moved into her New London home and was shocked to see a tree on both her home and her neighbors home.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is so exciting' but then I realized, it was my house,” said Smith. “My husband called me and said that the branch split in half and fell on the house.”
In Smith’s backyard, it was a devastating sight and perfect example of how punishing the winds were to the trees.
“We never that the damage would be this severe,” said Smith. “I woke up last night and we heard the storm and then I looked out the window and saw that there were no damages.”
In Old Lyme, crews began working to restore power on shore acres road after receiving reports of a tree knocking out a power line.
For hours, utility workers worked to fix the lines and bring power back for thousands.
Eversource issued this statement to NBC Connecticut concerning restoration times:
“We’re in the process of working on restoration estimates and hope to have them tomorrow morning. Please keep in mind, today’s high winds caused additional damage and outages across the state. The storm has affected customers in almost all of the 149 communities we serve in Connecticut. Since the beginning of the event, we have restored power to more than 55,000 customers.”
