HAMDEN/OXFORD — According to the National Weather Service (NWS), four EF1 tornadoes touched down in Connecticut Tuesday.
Hamden
NWS said an EF1 tornado with an estimated peak winds of 110 mph moved along a 9.5 mile path between Beacon Falls and Hamden. Hamden fire officials said the most severe damage was concentrated on the northern part of the town. At one point there were at least 35 roads affected debris from the damage.
This was the first reported tornado for Hamden since 1989 when the town saw one in the Whitneyville area.
According to Hamden Mayor Curt Lang, 150 trees are down in the northern part of town and according to United Illuminating, approximately 2,400 households are still in the dark as of Wednesday evening.
John Morgan with Quinnipiac University said he is shocked the Mount Carmel campus did not lose power, but the York Hill campus is currently running on a generator.
"Actually, this happened at a very good time because our students finished their exams last week. We had graduate commencement last week. The seniors are coming back today, so there weren't that many students on campus yesterday when the storm occurred," said Morgan.
"It's kind of funny because when you walk around campus, people kind of just came back to take Snapchat videos but it literally looked like a war zone when we first got back. Trees snapped like the one behind us. It was absolutely crazy to see. It's something you see in a movie," added Lewis.
Mayor Lang is strongly reminding everyone to not go near any downed wires or the trees surrounding it because they could be electrified. He said people should always assume they are live wires.
The Town of Hamden has been updating their map on which roads are closed or have reopened. Click here for the map.
Oxford
NWS said the second tornado touched down in Oxford with an estimated peak winds of 100 mph that moved along a 4.5 mile path to Southbury.
Numerous homes were damaged in Oxford, creating a major concern for homeowners.
"It just came in fast and furious," said Kim Tallcouch.
Tallcouch lived in her Oxford home along Route 67 for over 20 years. Her home was one of many houses that suffered major roof damage stemming from a tree falling on her house.
"We felt the house starting to shake and then after a few seconds the tree just slowly moved its way over," she said.
Earlier Wednesday, First Selectman Jeff Manville declared a state of emergency for Southbury as 98 percent of the town had no power.
Governor Dannel Malloy announced Wednesday that he has signed a Declaration of Civil Preparedness Emergency to assist the state with response and recovery efforts following the storm.
According to Eversource, 69,658 customers are without power. United Illuminating has 3,467 customers without power.
On Thursday, the National Weather Service in Albany confirmed two more tornadoes from Tuesday's storms -- one in Winsted and one in Barkhamsted.
