Heavy rains bring more flooding to Connecticut roads, basements

As a tornado watch blanketed swaths of Connecticut Sunday, heavy rains flooded basements and roadways across the state.

By Sunday afternoon, the highest-recorded rain totals in each county ranged from 3.38 inches in Hartford County to 1.07 inches in New London County.

Against the backdrop of last week’s flash flooding in the Northeast, Sunday’s rain flooded roads and basements with water.

At 4 p.m. Gov. Ned Lamont was scheduled to view flooding in Bristol.

In a statement released Sunday morning, the Bristol Police Department said heavy rain in the early morning hours closed multiple roads throughout the city.

“While many of these roads are once again open, others remain closed. This includes the area of Middle Street and Riverside Avenue. That area will remain closed for an extended period of time,” the department said. “If you come across a roadway that is covered with water, or appears to be closed, do not attempt to travel on it.”

A dispatcher at the Litchfield County Dispatch in Torrington said the volume of calls to her office for road and basement flooding is somewhat typical for weather events of this magnitude.

“I would say the bulk of the calls we’re getting are for issues on the roadway, so either roads getting washed out or otherwise compromised or flooded,” she said. “It’s high volume compared to a normal day, but I’d say it’s relatively typical for a large-scale rainstorm.”

Sgt. Amanda Martin of the West Hartford Police Department said flooding on Brace Road left a car stranded in the waters, requiring firefighters to assist the occupants to safety.

By Sunday afternoon, Martin said, water at impacted sites had already receded.

“Initially a few streets were barricaded during the peak of the rain but the water has since dissipated,” Martin said.

The downpour also canceled weekend activities across Connecticut, including the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz.

“Incredible @GHFJazz the last three days … but sadly, that’s all for this year. With heavy storms forecast to come in, today will be canceled. So grateful to the festival organizers, volunteers, and everyone who works so hard to make this beautiful event happen,” Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said in a tweet Sunday.

In a later tweet Bronin advised residents to stay off the roads, keep an eye on catch basins and to remove vulnerable items in flooding-prone basements.

While heavy rain did materialize, Gary Lessor, chief meteorologist at the Western Connecticut State University Weather Center, said that by Sunday afternoon anticipated thunderstorms and wind gusts did not.

“There’s a possibility if we had strong thunderstorms that you could get some high wind gusts, but that just hasn’t materialized,” Lessor said. “It’s basically just been a heavy rain event.”

“We’re looking at a couple more hours of heavy rain, a chance of thunderstorms, but nothing too, too extreme,” Lessor added midafternoon.

With the heavier rain moving away, Lessor said flash flood waters should be receding, but that the Connecticut River is expected to rise.

“The Connecticut River has definitely turned course or will be turning course,” Lessor said. “Right now we’re down to 17.56 (feet). We’re still at minor flood stage and it should go back up over 20 feet tomorrow. So places that flood 20 to 21 feet should be prepared for more flooding in the Hartford area.”

Lessor said that while the state should see a temporary break in humidity, the rain won’t be going away anytime soon.

“Northern Connecticut should get some relief tomorrow dropping back into the mid-60s. But temperatures (in the) low to mid 90s for highs with a partly sunny sky and a chance for more showers (and) thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon and evening,” Lessor said. “It looks like as we get to the end of the week — Friday, Saturday — we could see another round of heavier precipitation.”