By Tony Spinelli
Connecticut Post Online
Copyright 2007 MediaNews Group, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Monday, the pounding rain and lashing winds had stopped, but officials were still assessing the damage from the powerful nor’easter that churned through the state Sunday — flooding roads, forcing shoreline residents to evacuate and causing scattered power failures.
The storm, packing wind gusts of 40 mph, dumped between 3 and 8 inches of rain in different parts of southwestern Connecticut, finally giving way Monday to a gray, overcast sky that forecasters said threatened to bring more rain, and possibly even snow, today.
“This was a powerful storm,” said Peter Wichrowski, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Upton, N.Y., adding that it exceeded expectations for rainfall and coastal flooding.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell, after touring soggier portions of the state, asked federal officials to declare Connecticut a disaster area.
“The damage I have seen today is some of the worst our state has experienced in the last 20 years,” she said. “Mayors and first selectmen all over the state tell me the combined effects of high winds and high water have truly taken a toll.”
In addition, Rell announced she is extending the deadline for filing state taxes until midnight Thursday.
In Bridgeport, the rainfall of 3.02 inches Sunday broke the previous April 15 record of 1.35 inches set in 1990. Other area communities fared worse, with as much as 4 to 8 inches of precipitation recorded.
The storm, which grew stronger as it absorbed moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, caused tidal surges along the coastline measuring 10.5 feet, considered above moderate, but not major. Perhaps the moderate tidal surge was the reason no one took refuge in the four emergency storm shelters set up by the Mid-Fairfield County chapter of the American Red Cross. By mid-morning, the shelters had closed for the day.
In Monroe, a stretch of Route 25 near Sippin’s motorcycle shop became a lake, police said, and the road was closed for hours. Two mudslides were also reported in town, blocking roads.
“This was the worst flooding I’ve seen in my years on the force,” said Monroe police Sgt. Jay Torreso.
In Shelton, 34 people and a number of pets were evacuated early Monday from the low-lying Maples area on the banks of the Housatonic River.
“The water came up suddenly,” said Shelton Fire Chief John Millo. Boats were used to evacuate dozens of residents along the river, as well as eight dogs, two cats and two turtles, he said.
He said the water was anywhere from a foot to 2 feet deep when he ordered the evacuation.
There were no injuries, he said.
A shelter for some of the evacuees was set up at Echo Hose Ambulance, he said.
A mudslide Sunday in the Birchbank area of the city blocked the main road to homes there. “The mud covered the road and railroad tracks and a payloader was sent in,” Millo said.
Some roads were also closed Monday because of flooding, including a section of Shelton Avenue near St. Lawrence Church.
The storm also took a toll on businesses throughout the area, causing some to close because of flooding.
“I lost income over this because I had to close,” said Toni Mallozzi, owner of the Little Peeps home day-care center in Shelton.
Trumbull Center was under siege once again, with voluntary evacuations of several streets, including Larkspur and Wesley drives, according to First Selectman Raymond G. Baldwin Jr.
“We didn’t have to set up any shelters, although we were prepared to if it became necessary,” Baldwin said, because residents forced to leave their homes made their own alternate arrangements.
Instead, the town sent 50 cots over to Stratford for use in its shelters.
Twin Brooks Park remained closed Monday as deep water still covered the playgrounds and parking lots.
In Oxford, Fire Chief Scott Pelletier said five families along the Housatonic River voluntarily evacuated their homes early Monday. About 20 homes suffered water damage from the flooding, he said.
Dozens of people stopped off at the Stevenson Dam on Route 34 to take pictures of the water surging through the floodgates while rocks bounced upward from the power.
Elaine Davis, 29, of Oxford, took pictures of the rushing water with an old camera her father gave her. “It’s actually quite beautiful,” she said.
Lola Nichols of Ansonia was in awe of the rushing water as she took shots with her cell-phone camera. “This is crazy. I’ve never seen it this bad,” she said. Flooding was so widespread in the Naugatuck Valley that the telephone at Basement Systems rang off the hook late into the afternoon, said Kristin Cheney, who answered the calls. The company dispatched crews to pump out basements.
“The phone hasn’t stopped ringing,” Cheney said.
In Stratford, Lordship residents were advised to evacuate, and a shelter was set up at the Baldwin Senior Center with the help of the American Red Cross, said Deputy Police Chief Joseph LoSchiavo.
Numerous viaducts flooded throughout the town, as police rescued stranded motorists.
LoSchiavo said there was extensive property damage in the Long Beach East section of Lordship.
In Fairfield, the flooding was worst in the Greenfield Hill area, where brooks overflowed their banks.
Firefighters also brought 20 people from Fairfield Beach Road aboard their Army surplus vehicle to higher ground, where they then went to stay with friends or relatives, Fire Chief Richard Felner said.
Two people died from heart attacks during the storm, but First Selectman Kenneth Flatto said it wasn’t clear whether their deaths were attributable to the nor’easter.
In Milford, the downtown duck pond behind City Hall was so swollen that one of the benches that line it was under water up to its seat. Several people were snapping photos Monday morning of the raging torrent that the Wepawaug River had become.
Public works crews rescued a couple by boat from their East Broadway home Sunday, Director Bruce Kolwicz said. They were deposited on dry ground and decided to stay with friends nearby, he said.
Several intersections were closed Monday morning because of water over the road, including New Haven Avenue at Old Gate Lane and Gulf Street near Eveningside Road. The biggest problem police faced was the motorists who drove around the barricades, Officer Vaughan Dumas said. By 1 p.m. river levels began to recede.
In Derby, residents of the riverfront community McConney’s Grove were well prepared for the rising waters, according to Fire Chief Charles Sampson.
Built in that flood-prone area, the houses are on stilts. Sampson said water had surrounded about 10 of the homes and made the end of the road impassible, but did not overwhelm the structures. Elsewhere in Derby, the lower greenway trail and O’Sullivan’s Island were under water. The fire department was called to pump out more than 20 basements.
Staff writers Anne M. Amato, Melvin Mason, Andrew Brophy, Frank Juliano, Matthew Higbee, Richard Weizel, Genevieve Reilly and Ken Dixon contributed to this report.