Heavy rain hammered Connecticut during Monday morning’s commute, causing spinouts and a roof collapse, while wind and flooding may lie ahead.
The sun was shining brightly in Hartford by late morning, only to give way to more rain early in the afternoon. A flood warning for the Connecticut River in Hartford and Middlesex counties is in effect. The river is expected to exceed flood stage Tuesday in Hartford, the Thompsonville section of Enfield and in the Middle Haddam section of East Hampton.
Before dawn, water pooled on highways and torrential downpours cut visibility, causing some truckers to pull over rather than try to make their way through the driving rain.
Some crashes and spinouts were reported in the Hartford area, although it wasn’t clear if weather was a factor in all of them. One car appeared to have slid off I-91 into the center median in Windsor about 6:30 a.m., and a truck overturned on I-95 north in Stamford, causing authorities to close the highway.
Trees fell on power lines in Sherman and Goshen, closing roads, according to the state Department of Transportation. A combined 44 customers in those towns were without power at 8 a.m., while in Sharon, also in the northwest corner, 102 customers lacked electricity.
On the other side of the state, in Woodstock, 572 customers had no power, according to Eversource.
In the Pawcatuck section of Stonington, the top floors and roof of a long-vacant brick mill collapsed early Monday, police said. No one was injured. The building at 75 Stillman Ave., formerly called Connecticut Castings, had been fenced off and boarded up.
A passerby noticed the damage about 7 a.m., after heavy rain had fallen in the area, Stonington Lt. Bryan Schneider said.
Officials are talking about the possibility of razing the building, he said.
A wind advisory is in effect from 1 p.m. Monday until 8 a.m. Tuesday, the National Weather Service said. A wind advisory means sustained winds of 31-39 mph are expected, with gusts up to 57 mph.
“Winds this strong are capable of downing small tree limbs and branches, possibly causing isolated power outages,” the weather service said.
The good news is that Tuesday’s forecast is for sunny weather, with a high near 60 degrees.