Two women dead, extensive road damage from torrential Sunday storm in CT

The bodies of two women have been recovered after they were swept into the swollen Little River in Oxford during a torrential Sunday storm that a state official calls a “thousand-year” weather event.

Several locations received between ten inches and one foot of rain.

More than two dozen roads in municipalities including Oxford, Danbury, Ansonia, Monroe, Newtown, Woodbury and Southbury were damaged by surging water and remained closed on Monday. Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto says it’s unknown when those roads will reopen.

Governor Ned Lamont (D) signed a state of emergency declaration to expedite resources needed for the response. He says, "This was as severe a storm as we can remember. These rain bombs are sudden, and they drop hard."

State Sen. Eric Berthel (R) says Oxford got “sucker-punched.”

State police identify the two women killed, in separate incidents, as Ethelyn Joiner, 65, and Audrey Rostkowski, 71, both of Oxford. Firefighters were attempting to rescue both as they were swept away. Their bodies were recovered downstream on Monday.

Other high-risk rescues were successful. Firefighters from Beacon Falls extended a ladder over the rushing Little River to save 18 people from the inundated Brookside Inn in Oxford. 30 were saved by boat from a toddler's birthday party at Jackson Cove, also in Oxford. 43 campers and three staffers were rescued from Kettletown State Park in Southbury, also by boat.

Danbury was also hard hit. Crews evacuated a senior housing complex with about 100 units due to flooding. The fire department reports making about 20 rescues from cars stuck in floodwaters.

The storm proved challenging for Ansonia, the lowest-lying city or town in the Naugatuck Valley. As the river rose to its highest level in the last decade, Mayor David Cassetti ordered the city's floodgates closed. He believes that move prevented severe flooding downtown.

"That water was at the level of the train tracks, which is right where the gates are," says Cassetti. "So we closed them in time, and it still went up another 4 feet."

Still, there was road damage in Ansonia. A retaining wall at Assumption School collapsed onto North Main St., which remains closed at that location.

Road damage is widespread in New Haven and Fairfield counties. State Rte. 67 has been especially hard hit. It's been closed at locations in Oxford, Southbury and Seymour.