Recovery continues after strongest storm to hit Northwest Corner in years

Days after an extreme storm caught the Northwest Corner by surprise after an otherwise sunny Fourth of July, communities are still picking up the pieces as clean-up efforts persist. Blocked roads, downed trees and power lines, and widespread power and water outages continued to affect the region as of Monday, July 6. While more than 1,000 people in Salisbury remained without power Tuesday morning, businesses started to reopen.

Continued rain made clean-up efforts difficult as the week began, and some major roads remained partially blocked.

No tornado, but strongest warning came too late for Northwest Corner

On Saturday evening, the weather took an abrupt turn just after 7 p.m. as hurricane-force winds whipped through the region, with Salisbury and Falls Village in the direct line of the storm before it moved southeast toward Harwinton and Torrington.
The storms forced last-minute cancellations of fireworks and laser light shows in the area and created hazardous travel conditions with hail, heavy rain and strong winds. Emergency crews responded throughout the evening to blocked roads and downed wires.
Residents referred to the scene as “apocalyptic.”

While many believed a tornado was responsible for the extreme damage, meteorologists said there was no evidence to support those claims. Samantha Lankowicz, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Albany, said the most likely cause of the damage was strong winds.

“We looked over the radar and we didn’t see anything that would suggest there was a tornado – there were no strong signs of rotation,” Lankowicz said, adding that their radar did pick up strong, straight-line winds up to 60 and 70 miles per hour.

Although thunderstorms were predicted, most residents were not notified about the severity until shortly before the storm struck.

Meteorologist Jack Drake, who covers western Connecticut, said the storm was warned as “severe” about 30 minutes before it reached Salisbury, but it was not upgraded to a “considerable damage” warning until after it had already passed through Falls Village. He attributed the delay in part to limited radar coverage in Litchfield County, making it more difficult to assess the storm’s intensity.

Drake described the storm as a “classic discrete supercell” and one of the strongest to hit the region in recent years, estimating wind gusts may have exceeded 80 mph. He said highly localized summer storms remain difficult to forecast.

Crews work on a barely-visible road in Salisbury with trees on wires and the pavement covered with debris.Photo by James H. Clark

Towns declare local states of emergency

The Town of Canaan (Falls Village) declared a local State of Emergency Sunday morning as a result of the storm damage. First Selectman David Barger said the move could help relieve the financial burden of the storm if state or federal funds become available.

On Sunday afternoon, Salisbury, Cornwall, Goshen, Harwinton and Torrington followed suit, each declaring a local State of Emergency.

“We want to be able to utilize all of our resources,” Barger said, adding that town crews have been called in for overtime hours to support the clean-up.

He said he received calls from North Canaan and Kent town officials who offered their support.

“Whether it be with the volunteer fire departments or the department of public works, they stand ready to help us,” he said. “The towns in Region One have really been drawn together with some common problems and common initiatives, and this is one of those things where we’re all working together.”

No injuries reported

As of early Sunday afternoon, state police at Troop B in North Canaan had not received reports of any injuries from the storms.

Sharon Hospital lost power for a short period of time Saturday night but the emergency generators kicked on and services were not interrupted, hospital supervisor Elizabeth Barrows said.

While Barrows could not confirm whether the storm resulted in any injuries, she said the hospital saw a number of visits from patients who were unable to use their portable oxygen concentrators as a result of power loss.

More than 70,000 Eversource customers in Connecticut were without power Sunday morning after the storm. That number dropped to just under 24,000 on Monday, July 6.

Progress was slow in the Northwest Corner. In Salisbury, 93% of customers remained without power as of 1 p.m. Sunday, with 2,792 of 3,006 customers affected. By Monday morning, 80% of Salisbury customers were still without power.

Resident Ben Blackwell directs traffic in Salisbury as motorists navigate road closures. Photo by Patrick L. Sullivan