Isaias deals devastating damage to Connecticut, cutting power to more than 700,000

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Isaias, the hurricane turned tropical storm, swept through Connecticut at a blazing speed Tuesday afternoon, causing crippling damage as it uprooted trees, severed power lines and littered roads with water-soaked debris that slowed travel and left more than 700,000 without power Wednesday morning.

Eversource reported that 598,112 customers lacked power at 7:15 a.m. Wednesday -- 46% of its customers -- and United Illuminating reported 103,443 outages, more than 30% of its customers. It could be days before all the outages are restored, leaving families who are still working and studying from home during the COVID-19 pandemic without electricity, internet and air conditioning.

The storm, which moved in with an unexpected speed, struck southwestern Connecticut by about 1 p.m., but spread across western and central Connecticut in little over an hour, bringing gusts upwards of 60 miles per hour and soaking rain. The rain left by late afternoon, but powerful winds lingered, threatening to bring down more trees and power lines into the evening. Towns including Westport, Cheshire, Chester, Deep River, Redding, Lyme and Marlborough, reported more than 90% of its residents were without power at the height of the storm.

In Greenwich, a woman was trapped in car when a tree fell on it and when an ambulance arrived to help her, a tree fell on the ambulance, too, Lamont said. No one was injured, he added.

https://www.courant.com/breaking-news/hc-br-hurricane-tropical-storm-isaias-hits-connecticut-20200804-o3hg7s5c6bcztjqjgsm2yymt2i-story.html