Tornado ripped 4-mile path through New Canaan, Norwalk

Oct. 04--The National Weather Service confirmed late Wednesday that a tornado had torn a path through New Canaan and Norwalk the day before.

After the National Weather Service completed preliminary surveys of the area, it confirmed that a tornado touched down in New Canaan on Tuesday and ripped its way into Norwalk.

The tornado spawned at 5:29 p.m. and lasted to 5:41 p.m., the weather service said, with estimated wind speeds reaching 100 mph. It had a path of nearly 4 miles about 300 feet wide.

It frightened many in their homes or traveling in cars, but there were no reported injuries.

"The tornado began near the intersection of Weed Street and Marshall Ridge Road in New Canaan, and continued southeast for almost 4 miles, lifting at the intersection of Scribner Avenue and Gillies Lane in Norwalk," the National Weather Service reported. "Damage was primarily to trees and cars."

The weather service said the tornado had 100 mph winds, categorizing as an "EF2" event. The Enhanced F Scale ranges to 0 to 5, 5 being the most violent.

Samantha Ashley, 22, was in her family room Wednesday evening when emergency management officials issued a tornado watch alert. The sky darkened as clouds loomed over her New Canaan home. Branches slapped against the roof of the home and plastic chairs flew around her backyard.

She ran to the basement to take cover and, "two minutes later, the storm was over," she said.

Outside 104 Conrad Road on Wednesday afternoon, Samantha Ashley and her mother, Kathleen, said about eight trees had fallen around the property. One smashed the windshield of the mother's Toyota RAV 4. Another tree fell between that and a second car.

Kathleen Ashley and her family had to step over tree branches to enter and exit the home and said people had been driving past her house all morning, slowing down peering at the damage.

"It's a mess," she kept repeating. "I think we got hit the worst."

Not far away, cleanup crews from Sandoval Tree Service were cutting down and removing trees on the 200 block of West Norwalk Road in Norwalk. Power lines were damaged and hanging from poles on the street. Multiple homes on the New Canaan and Norwalk border had trees down outside their homes.

Tornadoes were also confirmed in Rockland and Westchester counties in New York, and in Ronkonkoma on Long Island.

It has been decades since a tornado was seen in Norwalk. A Wikipedia listing cites the most recent (according to a New York Times report) on July 19, 1971. Before that was September 1899 and August 1820, according to books on tornadoes in the region.

The weather service issued a tornado and severe thunderstorm warning for Fairfield County late Tuesday afternoon. The storm was over New Canaan around 5:28 p.m., moving east at 35 mph. The storm hit Norwalk around 5:35 p.m. and Westport five minutes later.

The strong winds knocked down trees, branches and utility lines. Six utility poles were downed along with trees on Scribner Avenue in Norwalk. Trees also were downed on and near Little Fox Lane.

The northbound Merritt Parkway was closed between Exits 37 and 38 in New Canaan and Norwalk because of debris in the roadway. State police said a downed tree across both travel lanes. The closure caused more than eight miles of traffic congestion between Exits 31 in Greenwich and 38 in Norwalk.

On Wednesday morning, Little Fox Lane in Norwalk was closed as employees from the Department of Public Works cleared a tree that blocked the road. A couple blocks away, the northbound lane of Marvin Ridge Road was closed at the Merritt Parkway overpass near the New Canaan line.

Norwalk police Sgt. Sophia Gulino called the storm a disaster and said officers were began responding to calls around the city starting at 5:39 p.m., and ending about midnight. She said reports ranged from poles, wires, and trees falling near homes, cars stalling while trying to merge onto I-95 near exit 15, flooding in basements, and cars being struck by trees. She said she had received no reports of injuries.

The storm also brought heavy rain. The National Weather Service reported that Fairfield received 3.95 inches, the highest in the state. Other reports included 3.75 inches in Stamford, 3.65 in Darien, 3.57 in Norwalk, 3.54 in New Canaan, 3.30 in Westport 3.50 in Fairfield, 2.12 in Milford, 1.90 in Newtown, 1.75 in Bethel, 1.73 in Ridgefield, 1.55 in Madison, 1.50 in Trumbull, 1.40 in Seymour and 1.30 in Naugatuck.

Kathleen Ashley said her insurance company would only cover $500 to $1,000 worth of damages. "It would take like 1,000 for one tree, if even," she said.

But still, she and her family said they feel lucky they have a generator and can remain in the home.

"It's bad," she said. "But people are starving in the world."

Westchester County airport, near Greenwich, had a peak wind gust of 29 mph just before 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Staff writer Jim Shay contributed to this report.

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