Streams, Rivers Overflow As Henri Passes Over Vernon [PHOTOS]

VERNON, CT — Though Vernon received just a glancing blow from Henri when the tropical storm took a hard right to the east Sunday, local streams and rivers had an angry response to the rain that poured onto the area.

Even as the water subsided by Monday morning, residual rain gave the town another kick in the teeth early into the afternoon hours.

Vernon first responders officially went to 11 storm-related calls, according to police department statistics. Most had to do with flooding, though wires did come down near Northeast School and left more than 200 without power for hours.

The worst-hit area was along Route 83 at the Motel 6 driveway. The Hockanum River had crested about midway through the storm, and, by late afternoon, water had taken over the parking lots of the motel and adjacent commercial plaza, leaving several people stranded. One driver did not heed the warnings of Department of Public Works officials and police and unsuccessfully tried to drive through the 3-foot-plus depths. The Honda sport utility vehicle sat halfway submerged for the duration of the storm and was still idle in the lot Monday morning.

Essentially, the Hockanum overran its banks and flooded the access road and bridge across the river that leads to the hotel. It then spilled onto Route 83.

Multiple guests were gathered outside the hotel and began calling for help.

Another car drove into the water and was "disabled," by the rushing water, authorities said.

Vernon firefighters were able to pry open a fence to create a pathway out of the property, authorities said.

Several carloads of people were then able to safely leave the site.

A culvert through which a stream passes along the rails-to-trails system collapsed in Vernon Center and caused water to back up into a home on the 200 block of Center Road. To make matters worse, uphill storm drains were bubbling over during the height of the rain and sent more water in that direction. Water eventually pushed its way through the damaged area and it subsided. A DPW crew was on the trail Monday to make repairs.

The Tankerhoosen River crested for the second time this summer, turning the low side of the river's waterfall into raging rapids.

The commercial parking lot at the intersection of routes 30 and 31 turned into a staging area for some 40 line trucks that were dispatched into the area Monday morning. The crews were contracted by Eversource Energy, which had its own feet of line trucks just up the road at its Tolland depot.