A torrential rainstorm submerged vehicles, downed trees, killed power, flooded basements and brought the evening rush hour to a halt in the entire Valley Friday.
The vicious little summer storm first came calling around 4 p.m. with multiple lightning flashes and growling thunder.
By 5:30 p.m. it was on — downtown Seymour was especially hard hit.
Major flooding was reported along Route 67 throughout Seymour and into Woodbridge. Parts of the road were still closed at 8:30 p.m., apparently due to a partial collapse of the road bed. WTNH reported the road will be closed for 24 hours.
An estimated 4.5 to 5 inches of rain was reported.
Seymour Fire Chief Tom Tomasheski said the fire department on Great Hill Road was struck by lightning, disabling much of the department’s radio communications.
Firefighters were using back up communication as of 8 p.m., but didn’t have radio contact with the town’s ambulance corps.
Video below shows the traffic situation in Seymour as the water receded. Story continues after the video.
Flash flooding hit several parts of Seymour — concentrated in the downtown area, Tomasheski said.
The Seymour Ambulance Association building, behind Town Hall, was flooded.
Several cars got stuck on Route 8 because of rising water.
The highway had to be shut down, and some cars towed out, Tomasheski said.
Cars were also under water on Pearl Street in Seymour.
A bridge on Beecher Street eroded, and had to be closed, he said. The state Department of Transportation was called in to examine the bridge.
School Street was hit especially hard. The road, on a steep hill overlooking Route 67 and Route 8, became washed out in several places as rain water poured down.
Robert Branch, a volunteer firefighter in Seymour, witnessed the water rushing down School Street, over an embankment, and into the parking lot behind the Board of Education office.
In the video below, residents describe waste-deep water in the area. Story continues after the video.
Branch said the water also poured from School Street onto Martha Street and then onto Route 67, where it pushed against the Seymour Lumber building and back into the road — creating a whirlpool.
Tomasheski said a tree fell on a car parked along that stretch of Route 67 and there were power lines down in the area.
Video below has short interview with CL&P supervisor about that fallen tree. Story continues below video, which was shot by a CT Post reporter.
About a third of the town was without power Friday evening, Tomasheski said.
At about 7:30, firefighters were called to the Stop & Shop on Franklin Street for a report of flooding there.
Tomasheski said a water drain on the building’s roof had collapsed, sending lots of water inside the building.
The store had to be evacuated and closed, because of standing water inside and a flooded basement, Tomasheski said.
Stop & Shop was handling the clean up, according to Tomasheski.
Traffic delays were epic.
Route 67 was a parking lot through Oxford and Seymour. Route 8 wasn’t moving. Route 115 from Ansonia into Seymour was at standstill. Route 34 was clogged with drivers trying to avoid Route 8. Motorists who tried to duck off onto Bridgeport Avenue in Shelton from Route 8 north found that road to be jammed.
It took a Valley Indy reporter 60 minutes to travel from downtown Shelton to downtown Seymour.
It took 50 minutes to take Route 8 from Bridgeport to Derby.
Click here to read about how Oxford weathered the storm.
Video below is from Friday night’s WTNH 10 p.m. broadcast:
Route 8 is not moving at all, avoid at all costs you will not make it anywhere, anytime soon, at all. Peace’n’Love yall!
Though I agree that Seymour’s telephone notification system has been used rather liberally for voter motivation in the past (not a bad thing, btw), I don’t think anyone “slept” during yesterday’s flash flood emergency, especially the Fire Chiefs. In fact, all four of Seymour’s Fire Chiefs were active in the emergency, as was the Director of Emergency Management (who in the past has typically been the one recording the Code Red message). Every single piece of Seymour’s firefighting apparatus was in use during the emergency, as was Engine 6 from Ansonia FD and every available Seymour Police unit. Yes, the Code Red system is designed to make Seymour’s citizens aware of an emergency, but I would like to think that handling the emergency would be a more prudent use of time for the heroes who do so before taking the time to tell everybody about the emergency. Anyone who had access to a fire/police scanner during yesterday’s crisis would have known just how busy the Fire Chiefs were during it. Heaping “shame” on any of them is more than just a little harsh and uncalled for…
Johnnybox’s comments are right on! Also don’t forget the fire-police who assisted in keeping traffic away from the affected areas of town and rerouted vehicles. Great job everyone keep up the good work!
Why is it that no person working in city hall used the code red system to alert the community? Did they just all stay home that day knowing it was going to rain?
Nobody is bashing the fire department here. They along with their mutual aid did an outstanding job as well as the public works, and police department.
As jonnybox states if one had their scanner on they would have heard how busy public safety was, however they would have also heard that mock disasters such as this are needed to give everyone practive using their ICS/NIMS training provided FREE by FEMA.
It was very apparent that some people are a bit rusty on how the whole chain of command thing works such as only one person dispatching over the air and not in person from somewhere else. Use of multiple channels instead of cutting one another off, and better accountability of what apparatus was on what call.
Again, everyone did the best they could and it is much appreciated!