Dozens of roads are closed and two people are dead after intense rain in Connecticut

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Western Connecticut was pounded on Sunday and early Monday with almost a foot of rain in some parts. Dozens of roads are closed and two people have died. For more on how the area is faring, we're joined now by Connecticut Public's Abigail Brone. Hi, Abigail.

ABIGAIL BRONE, BYLINE: Hi.

CHANG: So tell us where you are, exactly, and what kind of damage has happened there.

BRONE: Sure. Yeah. So I'm in Southbury, Conn. Southbury and Oxford were the two towns that were most heavily affected by the storms last night. In Southbury here, there's about 60 roads that were impacted, including a dozen that are completely closed. One big incident was at a state park here, Kettletown State Park. About 45 people were evacuated by boat when the bridge leading to the town park was completely washed away. The evacuation began around 4 and it wasn't complete until the middle of the night. I spoke with Phil Testa, who was one of the campers that was evacuated from the park by local fire and rescue groups. And he says it took about nine boat trips to get everyone across safely.

PHIL TESTA: They were also rescuing from a different location and a couple of houses that were kind of on the water that couldn't get out. And they were pulling people in from everywhere. It was a massive, massive undertaking.

BRONE: And Testa is currently homeless, he said, and he was staying at the campgrounds. When they evacuated, he had to leave everything behind. And he's not sure where he's going to go or when he'll be able to return and get his belongings. In Oxford, the town next door, the library there is closed for the foreseeable future because of the flooding. And two elderly women died when they were unable to escape their cars in the flooding.

CHANG: Oh, my God, that's horrifying. Was this storm expected? Or has it taken people by complete surprise?

BRONE: So from what I've seen, we knew that bad weather was expected, there was going to be some storm. But I don't think that the state was ready for the degree, the severity of the storm.

CHANG: Yeah.

BRONE: State officials have called it unprecedented. They said it's a kind of storm that you see approximately every hundred years - I don't think we were ready.

CHANG: Yeah. Well, who's out there now trying to help people?

BRONE: Yeah, so the state's Red Cross chapter has a shelter set up here in Southbury. That's what I'm outside of right now. More than 50 people have come by since it set up during the night for food and water. The man I spoke with earlier, Phil Testa, is here. Jasmin Franjul, she works for the Red Cross here. And she said that events like this unfold really quickly, and they can be, like, really emotional for residents.

JASMIN FRANJUL: To be able to set this up in a way where someone can come and have a warm meal to eat or even just have fresh, you know, water to drink - I mean, the little things really are what matter.

BRONE: And the governor here, Ned Lamont, declared a state of emergency. He confirmed more than two dozen roads are closed, some will be for quite a while. Hundreds of structures are damaged. And to make matters worse, we are expected to get more rain tonight. I heard thunder overhead right before I started speaking with you.

CHANG: That is Abigail Brone with Connecticut Public in Southbury, Conn. Stay safe, Abigail. Thank you so much.

BRONE: Thank you.

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