Photo By Eugene Driscoll
The Housatonic River in Derby under the Route 8 bridge Thursday.
About 500 people in Seymour were without power as of 3 p.m. Thursday after the remnants of Hurricane Ida passed through Connecticut Wednesday night into Thursday morning. (FYI, Seymour was down to just five outages as of 8 p.m. Thursday)
Some 6 inches of rain fell overnight in Bridgeport, the CT Post reported.
The rain and wind caused tree branches to break and take down wires and utility poles in Ansonia and Oxford.
The power problems forced Seymour High School to close for the day. Downed trees and wires caused longer morning bus rides for some of Seymour’s younger students.
Bungay Road was scheduled to be closed to at least 3 p.m. Thursday because of a busted pole, according to town officials. The town was waiting for the delivery of a new utility pole.
In a Facebook post, First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis listed the following roads where residents didn’t have electricity (as of about 11 a.m.): Amber, Ansmore, Applewood, Balance Rock, Bayberry, Botsford, Brookdale, Bungay, Carriage, Deer Run, Derby Ave, Dogwood, Elmwood, Falls View, Farrell, Fountain Lake, Greenwood, Hemlock, Jennifer, Mead Farm, North Benham, North Mead Farm, Nikelmine, Oak Hill, Old Town, Popler, Ridge, and Terrace.
The morning had started off in a confusing manner in Seymour, with conflicting messages as to whether there was a two-hour delay or a full-day closure happening at Seymour High School.
In an interview carried live on Facebook, Drugonis said part of the problem was that both new school Superintendent Susan Compton and assistant superintendent Vonda Tencza lost power in the storm, hindering their ability to communicate.
A 2‑hour delay for the high school was changed to a cancelation once officials realized there was no power at the school, Drugonis said.
The interview with Drugonis is embedded below.
Seymour Police Chief Paul Satkowski said the passing storm kept the town on its toes.
“There was minor flooding on several streets throughout the town, due to the amount of rain and backed-up storm drains with leaves and debris,” Satkowski said. “Public works crews assisted with removing trees and debris from roadways and unblocked storm drains where it was needed from what I was told.”
Citizens Engine Co. No. 2 First Lt. John Hannon said that fire and EMS were dispatched early Thursday to Manners Avenue to help a woman who had fallen approximately 20 feet down an embankment.
“I wasn’t on the call but I assumed it had something to do with the ground being saturated and unstable from all the rain, but that’s purely speculation,” Hannon said. “She was uninjured and was helped back up the embankment by Seymour Fire Department personnel on-scene prior to the arrival of the full fire department rescue response.”
Police, fire crews, and EMS from Monroe and Oxford responded to a report of a person in the water in Lake Zoar near the Stevenson Dam around 11:30 a.m. Thursday. Officials on the scene in Monroe said a small boat had capsized but the boater was not hurt. See the image below:
Photo By Eugene Driscoll
Oxford and Monroe FDs, EMS and police responded to report of person in the water. View is from Monroe, near Lake Zoar boat ramp area off Route 34. Small boat capsized, person pulled out of water, is OK.
The crush of water from the remnants of Ida could be seen — and heard — at the Stevenson Dam on the Oxford-Monroe border.
The Oxford side of the dam became something of a tourist attraction as people pulled off Route 34 to watch the water roar. The Housatonic River rose quickly, causing some minor flooding along low-lying river-front properties in Oxford and Shelton.
The beach, parking area, and a bunch of large refuse containers were underwater at Indian Well State Park in Shelton off Route 110.
A good chunk of O’Sullivan’s Island in Derby, where the Housatonic and Naugatuck rivers meet, was also underwater Thursday.
Photo by Eugene Driscoll
O’Sullivan’s Island in Derby, where the Housatonic and Naugatuck rivers meet.
The Naugatuck River in Ansonia, kept in place downtown by large walls erected after the Flood of 1955, was surprisingly active and swollen Thursday.
At 10:45 a.m., the City of Ansonia took to Facebook to say the Ansonia Department of Public Works was on standby at the train station on West Main Street in case one of the old flood gates had to be closed. Their services were not needed as of 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
Ansonia Police Lt. Patrick Lynch said the city fared pretty good considering all the rain that fell.
“I think we made out relatively well, and even though we had a lot of rain, nothing (in terms of damage) was very widespread,” Lynch said.
Lynch said the city had to contend with a few issues with downed trees, including on Nolan Road, along with some minor flooding issues on Clarkson and Cherry streets on the city’s west side, along with some flooding on Spruce Lane. He said some downed trees knocked out some wires on Woodbridge Avenue, as well.
A website from the National Weather Service shows the Housatonic River was at 16.9 feet at 8:15 a.m. Thursday. That level causes moderate flooding, according to the weather service. Major flooding happens at 20 feet or above.
In March 2011, the Housatonic River at Stevenson Dam was measured at 21.6 feet. That caused more extensive flooding than what was happening as of 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
The Naugatuck River in Beacon Falls crested at 12.8 feet at 2 a.m. Thursday. That’s the highest since March 2011.
It should be noted that while the sight of the rushing rivers was something to behold, the lower Naugatuck Valley was thankfully spared from a storm that claimed some nine lives in Queens, N.Y. alone.
Gov. Ned Lamont declared a state of emergency at about 12:15 p.m.
A Connecticut State Trooper working in Woodbury lost his life after his vehicle became submerged in flood waters, according to The Hartford Courant.
