Two women are dead, and several roads and bridges are unpassable after “historic” flooding on Sunday that led to water rescues and hundreds of evacuations and the governor has declared a state of emergency.
Gov. Ned Lamont said, “historically severe rainfall” caused “significant flooding” and “extensive structural damage to roadways.”
While the damage is massive, the storms led to tragedy in Oxford, where two women, 65-year-old Ethelyn Joiner and 71 Audrey Rostkowski, both of Oxford, have been found dead.
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The other woman had been in a vehicle, climbed out, tried to cross the water and made it to a sign, which she was hanging onto it. Firefighters tried to get to her, but she was swept away in rising waters, Pelletier said.
Among the rescues, Colonel Daniel Loughman, of Connecticut State Police, said state police assisted by boat help people who were stranded at Kettletown State Park and Jackson Cove on Lake Zoar and they were taken to shelter in Southbury.
Katie Dykes, the Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, said nearly 50 campers were stranded at the Kettletown campground when the bridge that offers the only access point to the campground was washed away and all the campers were evacuated.
Kettletown State Park will be closed for the season and Dykes said DEEP is working with the National Guard to recover around 20 vehicles that are still at the campground.
Oxford First Selectman George R. Temple said several people, including a 5-month-old, who were at Jackson Cove for a 2-year-old’s birthday party had to be rescued.
Indian Well State Park is also closed on Monday as DEEP assesses damage and tests the water quality. The Larkin State Park Trail was also impacted by a washout.
A day after the storms, many roads remain closed because of damage and flooding. Get the latest list here.
“The sudden and severe flooding has caused significant damage to infrastructure in the western portion of the state, resulting in evacuations, rescues, and more than two dozen road closures that we anticipate will need to be closed for an extended period,” Lamont said.
“This emergency declaration may help expedite some of the resources needed for us to respond to this situation, and in particular can help prioritize potential federal resources such as equipment and work crews that can assist state and local crews with repairing infrastructure damage. I strongly encourage anyone in the western area of the state to stay alert for updates before traveling and do not attempt to drive through any flooded roads,” he added.
The state’s emergency management team is working with state and municipal officials and others in storm response and Lamont said the Connecticut Emergency Operations Center and it will remain active throughout the duration of this weather event.
The governor is urging local officials in the impacted areas to continue working with their assigned regional coordinators from the Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security on any requests for assistance.
“We are talking about rainfall in some areas in the thousand-year level, so we’re talking anywhere from 25-year level, 100-year level, 500-year level up to 1,000-year level, so it’s really historic, unprecedented flooding,” Brenda Bergeron, the deputy commissioner of the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
The next step is recovery and Bergeron said they are looking into the types of assistance that might be available.
