Connecticut
Fierce thunderstorm shuts down Connecticut Avenue, topples trees in Chevy Chase
BETHESDA, Md. (FOX 5 DC) – A powerful thunderstorm swept through Chevy Chase, Maryland, Wednesday evening, causing significant damage and shutting down Connecticut Avenue in both directions.
On the 2600 block of Blaine Drive, heavy winds toppled a tree onto a brick house, causing thousands of dollars in damage and bringing down power lines.
The homeowner, who has lived in the family home with her sister for 62 years, described the frightening moment they rushed outside after hearing a loud boom.
Wind gusts also felled a tree on Underwood Street, pulling down power lines, snapping a pole like a toothpick, and leaving a light dangling above the sidewalk in the Village of Chevy Chase.
The storm caused Connecticut Avenue to close in both directions, halting Metro buses and prompting police to direct traffic away from the area.
PEPCO and a tree removal company are currently working to clear the debris and restore power. Residents described the storm as fierce but brief.
“It was a sudden amount of large rain and wind, not coming quite horizontally, pretty much a 45-degree angle, and it didn’t last very long. It was only about 10 to 15 minutes,” said Timothy Holtz, a Chevy Chase resident.
Despite the brief duration, the storm caused extensive damage in parts of Chevy Chase.
On the 3700 block of Thornapple Street, a tree broke in half and landed on a front lawn, damaging the roof of a home. The homeowner was too upset to speak on camera.
The two sisters on Blaine Drive have been told by an architect that their home is now unsafe to live in. Several residents expressed relief and gratitude that no one was injured during the storm.
Some homes remain without power, but PEPCO has assured homeowners that electricity will be restored after midnight.
Both directions of Connecticut Avenue at Underwood Street have since reopened.
LYME — A body was recovered from the Connecticut River on Saturday, according to officials from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
At about 1 p.m., a vessel on the river reported seeing a body in the area of the Chester-Lyme Ferry, DEEP said.
The Environmental Conservation Police, along with the Connecticut State Police Major Crimes Unit and Lyme and Cheshire fire departments, responded to the area and recovered the body, DEEP said. The body has been sent to the state chief medical examiner, DEEP said.
Bill Flood, a media relations manager for DEEP, said the body was identified as a male and appeared to have been in the water for an extended period of time.
The medical examiner will determine the manner of death and EnCon is investigating, Flood said, noting there is no believed threat to the public.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Even as a born-and-raised New Yorker, I have a relatively open mind when it comes to pizza. When I’m out on the road, I’ll eat at any pizzeria as long as I can see the oven from the counter and buy pizza by the slice. However, the idea of any place outside the Big Apple proclaiming itself “the Pizza Capital of the United States” is just sacrilege. Connecticut doubled down on its ludicrous claim last weekend by approving the rollout of a special “Pizza State” license plate. This is the worst affront to the craft since Chicagoans started shilling their crust-bowl casserole as pizza.
Connecticut Foodshare
Let’s actually take a look at this license plate. One peek, we all know the rules. “The Pizza State” plate features a similar blue-to-white gradient as on the standard Connecticut license plate. The aforementioned self-proclaimed moniker replaces the state’s official nickname, “The Constitution State,” beneath the plate number. To the right of the number is an image of a pizza slice ripped straight from Microsoft’s ClipArt library. It’s a flat image that looks nothing like what’s served in New Haven. Connecticut drivers will be able to pick up a “Pizza State” plate for $65.
This is a pizza war for good
The only undisputedly good aspect of the “Pizza State” license plate is that its introduction will help feed Connecticut’s hungry. According to CT Insider, the $28.6 billion budget bill approved by the Connecticut General Assembly last weekend, which authorized the plate, also directly appropriated funding to Connecticut Foodshare. The sitewide food bank will also receive $50 from each $65 license plate fee, as it continues to provide millions of free meals to food-insecure people.
Back to the pizza debate at the heart of the matter. Governor Ned Lamont declared Connecticut the country’s pizza capital back in 2024 as part of a marketing campaign to promote the state. That declaration could have grounds for war in a different century, but individual states apparently don’t fight wars against each other anymore. Connecticut had better go back to being a UConn Husky-obsessed suburb before New York makes Greenwich the next Toledo.
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