The city of Milford and its neighboring town of Orange were hit hard by an overnight thunderstorm.
A commercial building partially collapsed near the Milford-Orange town line. An outer cinder block wall fell into the Cascade Boulevard building, and part of the roof was gone. Stacks of cardboard boxes could be seen inside.
The building was used by Bead Electronics. A sign on the door said part of the collapsed area was used for shipping and receiving.
The storm, which hit Wednesday night and into pre-dawn Thursday morning, also brought down trees and electrical wires.
United Illuminating reported about 4,000 homes and businesses without power at one point after the storm.
“The severe weather caused downed trees and tree limbs, broken poles, and downed wires, primarily throughout Milford and Orange,” said Angela Baccaro, UI spokesperson. “We worked with the affected municipalities to clear roads and are currently focusing on restoring power. Due to the locally heavy damage, restoration will continue throughout the day and into tonight (Thursday night).”
Early Thursday morning, the first selectman of Orange urged people to avoid the Marsh Hill area in town.
Connecticut Public Meteorologist Garett Argianas said based on the data he had seen so far, the storm looked like straight-line winds. He said it was probably not a tornado, but he says as of midday Thursday there had been no definitive determination from the National Weather Service.
A wind gust of more than 100 mph was recorded nearby, at an automated weather station in Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven. The park was closed Thursday and for the "forseeable future," New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said.
Elicker said in a Facebook post that a carousel building there was badly damaged and the park was closed. He said there were 50 downed trees.
"Lighthouse Point Park is one of the gems of the city, and a recreational asset that hundreds of residents use every day," Elicker said in his post. "While we’ll be working as quickly as possible to clean up the site, given the volume of the damage and number of downed trees, it will take some time for us to clean up and complete the work."
