Residents and business owners in Middletown are cleaning up after a thunderstorm brought heavy rain, thunder and lightning on Thursday night.
Lightning struck the Canoe Club restaurant on the Connecticut River, crumbing part of the chimney as a party went on inside.
“There was a little bit of rumbling. People assumed it was a bolt of lightning, most weren't aware that it actually hit,” Daniel Cronin, owner of the Canoe Club, said.
The lightning did not cause a fire and the building is expected to be OK.
Lightning might have also hit the city's emergency dispatch center.
Around a months worth of rain fell in Middletown in a couple hours and flooded the HVAC system at Wilson Middle School, as well as streets, houses and some businesses.
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"There are stranded cars. There was a driver sitting on top of her car as I was driving in," Middletown Mayor Daniel Drew said. "I actually stopped her and helped her get off the hood. The car was stuck past the wheelwells "
Because of the storm, the mayor opened the city’s emergency operations center.
Middletown residents heard thunder and lightning every few seconds last night as the powerful storm rolled through and lightning appears to have hit several buildings and knocked out power to thousands.
Several trees were also brought down, but Middletown Police said they have all been cleared away.
The Canoe Club is expected to reopen today.
