As flood waters abate, and the sun peeks out, Westport businesses and homeowners are assessing the damage wrought by up to 7 inches of rain.
The Norwalk/Westport area was among the hardest hit in Connecticut. Rainfall reached up to 4 inches an hour.
Westport emergency responders conducted 13 rescues of people trapped in vehicles by floodwaters.
Fire, Police, Emergency Medical Services, Public Works and dispatch teams continued to respond to calls throughout the afternoon.
Town departments are coordinating with Eversource to secure or disconnect utilities where necessary.
One of the first reports of destruction comes from Randy Herbertson. The owner of The Visual Brand — an agency located in a historic building off Church Lane — was heavily damaged, when Deadman Brook surged across Myrtle Avenue, and through Sconset Square.
As he sent the photos, Randy was waiting for the Fire Department to check electrical safety.
The Visual Brand studio entrance.
(Photos/Randy Herbertson)
There was a report too of heavy damage in the 1177 Post Road East apartments.
The first floor was under water, while the parking lot also flooded. Some cars were pushed into each other.
1177 Post Road East apartments.
Many Westporters — town officials and residents — responded well today.
Huge kudos to all, in every department. They answered a slew of calls, quickly and efficiently. They assessed damage, blocked roads, and communicated immediately.
As always, there were boneheads.
James Morgan notes: “Somebody saw fit to remove caution tape preventing people from driving into a massive flooded area at Morningside Drive and the Post Road.
“And police barriers blocking the Post Road on either side of the intersection were casually moved aside and dismissed by people who deemed their travel more important than their neighbors’ safety.”
Hopefully their brakes did not fail completely.
Representative Town Meeting member Jennifer Johnson compiled a video of flooding in her District 9 (downtown and beyond).
“We can’t ignore Deadman Brook,” she notes. “This is the worst I’ve seen in 20 years.”
Click here to view. It’s well worth watching.
Here are other scenes, from all across town.
The storm uprooted this tree on Clifford Lane, off Old Hill Road, bringing down power, phone and cable lines. (Photo/Jeff Brill)
State Department of Transportation maintenance lot, behind Walgreens … (Photo/Susie Kowalsky)
… and a close-up view. (Photo/Karen Root)
Hillandale Road, between Chapel Hill Road and Center Street. (Photo/Mary-Kate Smitherman)
Post Road, at Design Within Reach. (Photo/Jennifer Johnson)
Bay Street, opposite Casa Me. (Photo/Sunil Hirani)
One submerged vehicle on Greens Farms Road … (Photo/Stacie Curran)
… and another … (Photo/Stacie Curran)
… and a third on Greens Farms Road, beyond the truck. (Photo/Dave Wilson)
Cross Highway.
By mid-afternoon, the rain had been over for a few hours. But Norwalk Avenue remained flooded. (Photo/Lawrence Zlatkin)
One person tries to navigate flooded Imperial Avenue. The other jogs past. Behind him, a group of neighbors is out for a stroll. (Photo/Greg Naughton)
I lived off Greens Farms Road and I’m shocked by the picture from Stacie Curran! Never did I ever see that kind of flooding when I lived in Westport, and lived through hurricanes. If a rain storm causes this, what would be the consequences if Westport was ever hit by a 1930s or 1950s hurricane!
Yes there was structure damage due to the September 1938 storm, but it was a Cat-3 hurricane, not a rain fall. I remember the 1954 and 1955 Cat-3 hurricanes in Westport with 100 mile an hour winds. I remember after the storm my father driving around town to look at the damage. Westport better hope it doesn’t get hit by a Category 3 hurricane.
Jack, what was the national debt in 1938 and are there records of daily interest payments? If so what were they?
What was your father driving to look at the damage? Fascinating stuff Jack.
I will answer your question although you know the answer. The Great Depression was in the 1930s so people were suffering! However, if you were a Westport farmer, you made a lot of money because everyone had to eat. Property prices plummeted and one could buy a house for $3,000 in Westport in the mid 1940s …when the debt skyrocketed due to World War II. Then from 1946 to 1960, the top wealthy 1% of people payed 90% Federal Taxes. That lasted for 16 years until 1960, and the gap between the rich and the non rich was a very small percentage. Now, to answer your question about my father driving around town after the Category 3 hurricane, there was a lot of power outage and that’s when my father splurged and bought a $2,000 dollar gas generator to provide electricity for the next hurricane. That was a total waste of money.
The United States Geological Survey has a station that monitors the volume of water passing under Sasco Creek at Long Lots Road. It’s at the link below and the graph is completely crazy! It shows how off-the-charts today was. https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/USGS-01208950/#period=P7D&dataTypeId=continuous-00060-0&showMedian=true&showFieldMeasurements=true
This graph puts it in historical context with annual data. There is a one-day lag, so the data for Sunday will. This is possibly even more crazy.
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/USGS-01208950/statistical-graphs
This is the coolest summer you’ll see going forward.
Does no-one from the DOT monitor their equipment yard? Holy crap.
Remarkable images. When my parents built a house on Riverfield Drive (note the name!) in the ’60s, they chose land on the “high” side of the street rather than the very enticing river side because years of living in Westport had already shown them how the Saugatuck River could flood. Even so, we saw impressive flooding that covered our driveway about once every two years, but only during the spring thaw. Never in the fall.
Westport was on CNN tonight talking about the flood.