Tropical Storm Isaias: Westport Was Hit By A Tornado, NWS Says

WESTPORT, CT — Tuesday's storm left Westport in a shambles, with nearly 300 roads at one point closed due to downed trees and wires. And now we know why, Westport was hit by a tornado.

The National Weather Service on Friday confirmed that a tornado swept through town, packing winds of between 95 and 105 mph.

It touched down at about 1:40 p.m. on Tuesday, and measured 25 yards wide and 50 yards long, according to the weather service.

" A discrete, low topped storm cell, moving north northwest from Long Island Sound and over Saugatuck Shores in Westport CT, produced a waterspout, that made landfall as an EF1 tornado around 140pm on August 4 2020," the weather service wrote.

"The waterspout was captured on video by a private meteorologist as it was moving towards Saugatuck Shores in Westport CT around 140pm," the weather service continued. "The tornado produced severe damage to a house on Surf Rd, with the roof being ripped off, as well as portions of the second floor`s supporting wall structure. This debris was tossed about 30-50 feet north on the property. In addition, the tops of several pine trees in the front and side yard were either sheared or snapped off. The tornado likely quickly lifted and possibly tracked north as a funnel cloud for another 1 to 2 miles, before dissipating. The funnel cloud could have touched down as a waterspout on the Saugatuck River, south of Route 1, based on an eyewitness report from S Compo Rd in Westport, CT. Otherwise, downstream damage reports are inconclusive for tornado damage, but consistent with the damaging 40 to 50 mph straight line sustained winds and 60 to 70 mph gusts observed between 2pm and 5pm across southwestern CT from Tropical Storm Isaias."

According to NBC Connecticut's Chief Meteorologist Ryan Hanrahan, Tuesday's tornado is the "first tornado on record in Connecticut associated with a tropical storm or hurricane."

Tropical Storm Isaias pummeled Connecticut on Tuesday at one point knocking out power to more than 750,000 residents. Several days later more than 400,000 people are still powerless as we head into the weekend.

Eversource has vowed to have power restored by the end of Tuesday and United Illuminating Co. says it will have power returned by the end of Saturday for most customers.

Besides the power outages, numerous major and local roads have been closed due to fallen trees and power lines. President Trump declared Connecticut a disaster area, which will help the state receive federal assistance and funds. The National Guard has also been helping with response efforts.

Lawmakers have demanded an investigation into the utilities' response to the storm, and they plan to call for a hearing.

See also:

• Legislators Want Hearing On Eversource Storm Response
• Trump Declares Emergency In CT: Here’s What That Means, What It Does For Us
• 440,000 Still Without Power In CT: Town-By-Town Updates
• Lamont Activates National Guard To Help With Power Problems

As of about 5:35 p.m. on Friday, 82 percent of Eversource's Westport customers remained without power, or more than 10,300.

The number of homes and businesses still in the dark in town improved only slightly during the day on Friday, down to 82 percent from just over 85 percent earlier in the day.

Some traffic lights still weren't working on many roads in Westport on Friday, and the constant hum of generators continued to shatter the usual calm of many neighborhoods in town.

Late Friday morning, Westport officials issued the following update on the situation:

The percentage of Eversource customers currently without power is 85 percent.

• Eversource has deployed its make safe crew as of 6am this morning, so progress is expected on blocked roadways. DPW has initiated the clean-up of trees and debris and many previously impassable roads are now clear. Emergency access is prioritized.
• Police are aware of the signal light outages at high traffic intersections and are making efforts to monitor them as power continues to be restored. Temporary signage and other warning devices have been deployed as equipment inventory allows in the areas determined to be of greatest need. However, please understand that the Police Department cannot safely or effectively provide personnel to manually direct traffic at all of the main intersections. Attempting to do so only creates more traffic back up and further disruption. Motorists should continue to proceed through intersections with caution and obey temporary signage where posted. Please allow extra time to reach your intended destination to account for increased traffic on our roadways.
• AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless teams have been working around the clock to restore cellular service in Westport. Last night, Verizon successfully deployed a spot cell at the Compo beach area. AT&T has deployed a mobile cell tower at the Police Station. Many of the surrounding cell sites are back online.
• The charging station is currently down at the [Westport Center for Senior Activities]. Charging stations and WiFi can be accessed at the rear of Town Hall (110 Myrtle Avenue via access through St. John’s Place) and at the Westport Weston Health District (180 Bayberry Lane) in addition to WiFi access at the Library (20 Jesup Road).
• Non-potable water filling stations are available at all fire houses.
• Yesterday, Governor Lamont announced that the state of Connecticut has received approval for emergency disaster declaration from FEMA. This emergency declaration allows for direct Federal assistance in support of the ongoing State and local response effort. The Governor’s office will continue to work with municipalities to determine if Connecticut meets the threshold for a disaster declaration.

Also on Friday, President Donald Trump declared an emergency in Connecticut. Gov. Ned Lamont had requested the designation on Thursday.

Late Thursday night, Eversource — which the state is investigating due to its poor response to the storm — said it expects to have power restored to virtually all of its customers by late Tuesday night.

"Eversource estimates it will make significant progress by the end of the weekend and have its restoration substantially complete by Tuesday, August 11th at 11:59 p.m., with many customers restored before that time," officials wrote. "Substantially complete means fewer than one percent of customers are still without power."

Additional crews were expected to arrive to help out in Connecticut on Friday, apparently because they were not requested earlier by Eversource officials.

On Thursday, Westport firefighters doused a fire at a housing complex in the 1600 block of the Post Road East, and rescued a dog. No injuries were reported.

Soon after the storm hit on Tuesday afternoon, more than 95 percent of the town was without power, but by Thursday Eversource had restored power to some downtown and other locations, bringing the total down to 85 percent of the town remaining in the dark.