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NEW CANAAN, Conn. (WFSB) — A fast moving tornado caused a lot of damage in part of the state on Tuesday.
The National Weather Service confirmed on Wednesday that an EF1 tornado ripped through New Canaan on Tuesday evening.
The preliminary investigation revealed that the tornado was on the ground for 12 minutes from 5:29 p.m. until 5:41 p.m.
It had an estimated maximum wind speed of 100 mph and was 100 yards wide.
The NWS also said the path length was 3.9 mile long and began near the intersection of Weed Street and Marshall Ridge Road.
The tornado lifted at the intersection of Scriber Avenue and Gillies Lane in Norwalk.
Conrad Road and White Oak Shade Road were just some of the harder hit neighborhoods in New Canaan.
“Here in the New Canaan area, we are able to confirm a tornado did occur here in this area in the town. Right now maximum wind speeds look to be around 100mph, thats very preliminary as we are still trying to complete our damage survey,” said David Manning, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
Throughout town on Wednesday, crews were busy cleaning up, chipping downed tree limbs.
While up in bucket trucks, utility crews worked feverishly to get power back to those in the dark.
New Canaan was the third stop for the NWS crew, after already surveying damage caused by two tornadoes in the Hudson Valley.
“This one parent thunderstorm did produce damage all along the path, there were some breaks in the damage, but we’re here to asses the damage here in New Canaan,” Manning said.
Residents said the storms were intense as they passed through the area.
“Suddenly we heard a crack and lightning bolt all at the same time so we knew it was nearby,” said Mac Mackenzie of New Canaan.
When the severe weather finally ended, a massive tree was blocking the road.
“He heard a snap. They heard a snap,” Mackenzie said. “Everybody came out.”
However, wires didn’t come down with it.
“If you look at it, it must have almost jumped over or the powerline was strong enough to hold it to have it fall, but it’s pretty amazing it didn’t hit the powerline,” Mackenzie said.
The intense storms pounded the state with torrential rain and powerful wind, taking down trees and making a mess for many.
“It only seemed to last 5 minutes and the we looked outside and all of this happened,” said Samantha Ashley, of New Canaan.
The 22-year-old said she was inside her home when Tuesday’s storm hit, causing a tree to come down on top of her car.
One of the most traveled highways in Connecticut, the Merritt Parkway, was littered with debris.
Tuesday night, a tree came down during rush hour and forced drivers to abandon their cars in the standstill traffic.
The highway didn’t reopen until 8:30 a.m.
“New Canaan and Norwalk seem to be the hardest hit right now,” said Kyle Delucia, K&J Tree Service.
Several streets in both towns were still closed on Wednesday.
Wednesday morning, parents told Channel 3 that they were worried about navigating the roads and getting their children safely to school.
“It almost looked like by the high school, there was something that touched down there because there were a lot of trees down,” said Mary Lyden, a parent in New Canaan.
“We are surveying the area now,” Delucia said. “We got a couple calls in the community. There are definitely a lot of trees down on houses, cars and driveways. [There are] a few power lines I’ve noticed that are down. It’s important for homeowners to treat all wires as if they are live.”
Earlier in the day, the NWS determined that an EF-0 tornado touched down just to the south of the state in Ronkonkoma, NY. The NWS estimated the wind speeds at 85 mph.
At the height of the storm, Eversource reported more than 1,000 customers without power.
Eversource reported 134 customers without power as of 3:45 p.m. Wednesday.
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