Remnants Of Hanna Spared Newtown Major Damage

By John Voket

According to local and regional sources, the remnants of tropical storm Hanna left Newtown soaked with nearly six inches of rain, but wind gusts topping out at around 30 miles per hour had little effect beyond blowing brittle branches into utility lines, cutting power to several areas of town. Meteorologist Bill Jacquemin of the Connecticut Weather Center in Danbury confirmed Monday that a substation in Newtown officially registered a rainfall of 5.96 inches, and that two “typical” storm cells generated tornado warnings that covered Newtown and several surrounding communities.

“These tornado warnings are pretty typical for what you would have with a tropical system of this nature,” Mr Jacquemin told The Bee. “No tornados touched down, but we saw one cell in particular moving from Monroe into Newtown that signaled a warning.”

Public Works Director Fred Hurley said the town dodged a bullet in comparison to other storm systems in recent years.

“We experienced road washouts and a couple of trees down, but nothing more than your average thunderstorm,” Mr Hurley said. “This was a routine storm.”

The public works official said crews responded to Huntingtown Road, Kent Road, Old Green Road, Hattertown Road, and Key Rock Road for separate calls about trees downed by the wind and rain.

“In most cases, crews on duty removed the downed trees, “ Mr Hurley said, adding that trees down on Mile Hill Road South and Riverside Road were handled by utility crews because they came in contact with wires.

Mr Hurley said the bulk of repair work on washouts occurred on Pond Brook Road where town crews worked on the entire dirt portion of the roadway, as well as small sections of Morris Road and Hattertown Road.

On Monday morning, he said, regular shift crews made the rounds using the department’s grader and trucks, applying filler material to reestablish travel surfaces that were rutted or pocked by rainfall. The highway department had a six-person crew on Sunday to handle immediate response to the storm, which had passed by midnight Saturday.

He said the Pond Brook repair required the full contingent of workers and seven loads of process materials to repair damage.

“Overall we’re very grateful that damage was minimal,” Mr Hurley concluded.

Police reported no significant traffic incidents, although there were at least two minor crashes during the height of another storm system that moved through the region Friday evening, unrelated to the Hanna system. The first selectman’s office had received no complaints or messages related to the storm as of Monday afternoon according to Sue Marcinek, the administrative assistant to First Selectman Joe Borst.