What to Know
- A high wind warning is in effect and gusts could reach up to 50 miles per hour across the state. Expect power outages and road closures.
- Thousands of Eversource and United Illuminated customers have reported outages and some schools have announced delays
- The high winds are expected to continue throughout the day and will be accompanied by dropping temperatures
Power outages are plaguing parts of the state as very strong winds have caused trees and power lines to come down, and some schools are opening late because of it.
The NBC Connecticut meteorologists have issued a First Alert due to the strong winds and a high wind warning is in effect for the entire state until 7 p.m.
At the Simsbury Airport winds gusted between 40 and 50 miles per hour and the force of them flipped a small, unoccupied plane over. Officials said the plane was tied down but the anchors came out. No injuries were reported.
Thousands of homes were without power overnight. At one point nearly 15,000 Eversource customers were without power. For a short time, 86 percent of Naugatuck lost power after the wind caused a tree to fall on a primary line into a substation, according to Eversource officials.
Utility crews were out in force trying to repair all the damage. As of noon, Eversource was reporting over 11,000 without power and United Illuminating was reporting over 500. The numbers continue to fluctuate.
West Woods School in Hamden and Foran High School in Milford both announced delayed openings because of outages. In Redding, police advised that with trees down in both Redding an Easton, many buses would be late.
UPDATE: Incident is now reported to be in the area of 412 Hunter Rd which near the #CrystalLake town line. Nearest cross st is Lord Rd.
— Tolland Alert (@TollandAlert) March 2, 2017
Towns and cities across the state were reporting road closures as trees and wires came down in the wind.
The Wilbur Cross Parkway (Route 15) south was closed near exit 58 after a tree came down on a car with people inside.
Local
Halfway House Road in Windsor Locks was closed most of the morning because a large tree limb that fell across the road.
In Suffield, Captain Christopher McKee said the winds were "wreaking havoc" and that they had at least three scenes Thursday morning where trees came down on top of wires and into the road.
NBC Connecticut meteorologist Darren Sweeney says winds are currently gusting more than 50 miles per hour and are expected to continue through the day. Temperatures will drop throughout the day into the teens and 20s overnight. For a detailed forecast click here.
