Connecticut

In a summer of severe flooding in New England, a 1,000-year storm hit Connecticut. Here’s how. – The Boston Globe

Published

5 months ago

August 21, 2024

In a summer of severe flooding in New England, a 1,000-year storm hit Connecticut. Here’s how. – The Boston Globe

What at first appeared on radar as a relatively modest line of storms moving into Connecticut, was suddenly supercharged into a deadly flash flood — the same weather pattern responsible for Vermont’s two rounds of devastating flooding in July.

Stagnant, ‘training’ storms

Like trains on a track, Sunday’s thunderstorms kept multiplying over the same region, inundating parts of Fairfield and New Haven counties with flooding rains. A region that normally sees 3.5 inches of rain on average for the entire month of August was pounded with 13 to 16 inches of flooding rains, most of which fell within six to seven hours, state officials said.

Meteorologists said the deadly confluence of a very slow-moving system, an already extremely moist summer weather pattern and these “training” rainstorms wreaked havoc on the region, stretching from Fairfield to the Lower Naugatuck Valley, including Oxford and Monroe. Training storms develop when thunderstorms repeatedly move over the same area, generating from the outflow of previous storms, over and over again. Each storm is following along a path, lining up over the same region one after another like train cars on a track, except the track is not moving.

“Deep tropical moisture was in place, and there was no shortage of water vapor to work with,” said Ryan Hanrahan, chief meteorologist for NBC Connecticut. “A very narrow band of convergence developed, and thunderstorms kept redeveloping over this convergence zone.” Examples of convergence zones are fronts and boundaries like sea and land breezes. They act as a trigger for thunderstorms and in the Connecticut and Vermont flooding events, that zone of convergence barely moved.

The storms were “able to back build at times” and the hardest-hit town of Oxford, where two people died, swept away by floodwaters, was “in the bull’s-eye,” said James Tomasini, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in New York.

The Beacon Falls, Conn., Hose Company 1 rescues stranded patrons from the Brookside Inn Restaurant in Oxford amid rising floodwaters Sunday evening.Beacon Hose Co. 1

Research by climate scientists Jennifer Francis, Stephen Vavrus and Michael Mann has found that climate change has resulted in these stagnant patterns that allow storm systems to stall out, increasing the likelihood of flooding events both on a small scale (like in Connecticut) and on a larger scale (like with Hurricane Harvey in Houston in 2017).

Meteorologists said the Connecticut flooding was unrelated to Hurricane Ernesto, which on Monday was over the open Atlantic Ocean.

Damage from flood waters is shown on Cottage Street in Monroe, Conn., Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media)Arnold Gold/Associated Press

Forecast models missed the mark

The intensity of last weekend’s storms caught forecasters by surprise. Even the morning of massive flooding, models predicted only 6 inches of rain.

“These events fly under the radar. We need to do a better job at looking at these localized, very high impact events,” Hanrahan said.

Today’s forecast models, although sophisticated, still lack the finer resolution to accurately capture and pinpoint small-scale variations in terrain, weather patterns, and local atmospheric conditions.

One forecast model from Sunday morning showed around 6 inches of rain for southwestern Connecticut.Pivotal Weather/Tim Kelley

But despite the models miscalculating the dire nature of the approaching storms, warnings from the National Weather Service were issued well ahead of time, meteorologists said. The first flash flood warning of the day was issued at 9:26 a.m. on Sunday, according to James Tomasini, a meteorologist with the NWS in New York. The urgency of the alerts increased throughout the day and eventually a Flash Flood Emergency was issued by mid-afternoon, warning residents to take swift action to protect themselves from rapidly rising floodwaters.

1-in-100 years now every 20 years

A warming climate, scientists say, has increased the frequency and intensity of flooding in the Northeast due to heavier bursts of rain.

The traditional “1-in-100-year” rainfall event — or, a storm with a 1 percent chance of happening each year — now occurs about every 20 years in Connecticut, according to an analysis conducted by Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications research for First Street Foundation, a nonprofit that quantifies financial climate risk.

In other words, the same type of extreme rainstorm that was once a rare occurrence in Connecticut is five times more likely now.

Extreme precipitation has increased by about 60 percent in the Northeast since the 1950s, according to the Fifth National Climate Assessment. Flooding events are expected to become “flashier” across the US as the climate warms, according to a 2023 federal meteorological assessment of extreme weather trends.

Extreme flooding events in the Northeast have increased by 60 percent between the 1950s and now.Climate Central

The driving force behind this shift in weather patterns has been our warming planet, say meteorologists and other scientists. According to Shel Winkley, a meteorologist with Climate Central, when the atmosphere warms by just 1 degree Fahrenheit, there is 4 percent more water vapor in the atmosphere, meaning more water is now available during these heavy rain events.

High ocean temperatures don’t help, as they add further moisture into the atmosphere. That abundant moisture is often injected into storm systems such as the one Connecticut experienced Sunday. Warming ocean currents off Connecticut are 10 times more likely due to climate change, according to the Climate Central Climate Shift Index.

University of Connecticut researchers project that annual precipitation in the state could increase by as much as 8.5 percent by the middle of the century compared to the 1970s if there is no action to reduce emissions.

This Climate Shift Index for oceans shows warm weather in Long Island Sound is up to 10 times more likely due to climate change.Climate Central

James O’Donnell, executive director of the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation, said limited state data on precipitation and global climate models that are difficult to scale down make it challenging to predict where extreme flash flooding could occur.

But even if scientists can’t pinpoint exactly where intense flooding will worsen in a warmer climate “It’s likely that extreme precipitation events will increase in frequency,” O’Donnell said.

“These events — 10 inches in a day, or 12 inches in a day — we should plan for that everywhere in Connecticut,” he said.

For every 1 degree Fahrenheit of warming, the atmosphere holds 4 percent more moisture.Climate Central

‘No infrastructure can sustain it’

State officials and climate experts say Connecticut’s roads, bridges, and stormwater drainage system, much of it aging and built for a climate that no longer exists, like that of Vermont, cannot withstand such extreme rainstorms.

Rain totaling 13 to 16 inches, roughly 6 inches an hour, quickly swelled into dangerous rushing floodwaters that coursed through the town of Oxford, about 25 miles northwest of New Haven.

“It was a catastrophic amount of rain — no infrastructure could sustain it,” said state Senator Tony Hwang, who represents Newtown and Bethel, two towns also hard hit by the severe flooding.

Much of Connecticut’s climate adaptation efforts have been focused on protecting communities from storm surges as sea levels rise, particularly after devastating flooding from Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

“It’s not just sea level rise and coastal storms, but also the potential for inland flooding that we need to think about,” said Christine Kirchhoff, who worked on Connecticut’s climate resilience planning efforts.

Flash flood damage on the grounds of The Waterview reception hall in Monroe, Conn., is shown Monday.Arnold Gold/Associated Press

The challenge, she said, is that adapting to a changing climate is “a moving target” so long as fossil fuel emissions are added to the earth’s atmosphere. “What we adapt to today will be different from what we need to adapt to tomorrow,” Kirchhoff said.

Michael Jastremski, watershed conservation director for the Housatonic Valley Association in western Connecticut, said that there are thousands of culverts in the state that carry stormwater and streams beneath roads, yet many of them are too small.

The association surveys culverts and advocates for larger storm infrastructure. In an initial assessment of culverts in the Housatonic River watershed, he said, about 18 percent of the culverts they’ve surveyed would fail in a flood that occurs on average once every 25 years, meaning that water would overtop the road that the culvert is intended to protect.

“This could’ve been a regional event, and that’s what keeps me up at night,” Jastremski said. “When this is happening in 20 towns or 30 towns instead of eight or 10.”

Meteorologist Chris Gloninger is a senior scientist in climate and risk communication at the Woods Hole Group. Follow him at @ChrisGloninger.

Erin Douglas can be reached at erin.douglas@globe.com. Follow her @erinmdouglas23.

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Connecticut

Gov. Lamont said he's focused on affordability with start of legislative session

Published

8 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Gov. Lamont said he's focused on affordability with start of legislative session

Governor Ned Lamont said his goal of making Connecticut more affordable will require long-term solutions to fix long-standing problems.

Still, he also hopes to find short-term relief for families struggling to make ends meet.

“You want to bring down the price of electricity,” Lamont said during a one-on-one interview with NBC Connecticut. “You need more supply, you want to bring down the price of housing, you need supply.”

Lamont’s State of the State address focused on the price of many essentials, including electricity, housing and prescription drugs.

He admitted the state can do little to help with groceries, though.

” I don’t want to over promise,” he said. “There’s not much I can do about eggs.”

Lamont did make energy prices a major focus, noting the frustration customers had after surging electricity bills during the summer.

Lamont reiterated Thursday that the state needs to focus on increasing supply – something that could take years.

He defended purchasing more expensive green energy to boost supply in the short-term. Lamont also said he’s trying to get hydropower from Canada.

“That’s something that worries because I don’t have control over it,” he said. “I’m talking to the energy generators, I’m talking to the Trump administration. I’ll be seeing what we can do to get more energy here.”

He also defended the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) and Chairman Marissa Gillette, who has been the target of criticism from energy suppliers and Republicans who feel she’s been too heavy-handed.

“Marissa’s really good,” Lamont said. “She holds Eversource accountable. They don’t like that.”

He also said the state needs to boost its housing supply.

He’s made funding for housing – including grants for construction and help for first-time buyers – a priority, but now, he’s pushing lawmakers to speed up local permitting processes.

Lamont said that’s not an invitation to mandate zoning reform.

As Lamont crafts his budget proposal for lawmakers, he’s watching what happens down in Washington, D.C.

The governor’s proposal is due in February, but the current federal spending plan expires in March.

Lamont and lawmakers are worried the Republican-held Congress and President-Elect Donald Trump will cut funding for Medicaid, education and other federal aid.

While he waits, Lamont will receive pressure from Democrats to relax the state’s fiscal guardrails. The governor said he’ll listen, but doesn’t think the state is ready to make major changes.

“Look, we’ll see,” he said. “We’ve paid down by the end of this year, say, $10 billion of pension. We’ve gone from the worst-funded pension system in the country to below average. Below average is not good enough to me.”

Lamont said he plans to work with the Trump administration but vows not to budge on certain policies, including immigration.

America First Legal, founded by Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff Steve Miller, recently sent a letter to Lamont pressuring him to comply with Trump’s deportation plan.

The letter said the group had identified Connecticut as a “sanctuary jurisdiction,” something that “subjects you [Lamont] and your subordinates to significant risk to criminal or civil liability.”

Lamont said he doesn’t want to see changes to Connecticut’s immigration policy. The Trust Act states Connecticut agencies do not cooperate with federal deportation efforts except for undocumented immigrants who are charged with Class A or B felonies.

“If you want to get that 16-year-old dreamer out of Guilford High School, go look somewhere else,” Lamont said.

Lamont also wants to see changes at the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, focused on attracting more students.

For now, that’s a task for Chancellor Terrence Cheng, who was the subject of an audit last month questioning his spending and expenses.

Lamont said he will talk with Board of Regents Chairman Martin Guay before deciding whether to reappoint Cheng.

“I’m going to let him make the call, making sure we’re making the changes at Connecticut State we need to keep it on the right path,” he said.

Lamont is halfway through his second term in office. He said Thursday he’ll make a decision after the session about running for a third term.

“I don’t want to get pushed around politically either,” he said. “So I’m going make up my mind after the session, see how people think we’re doing.”

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Connecticut

Connecticut turns 237 years old today. Here’s the story of how it became a state

Published

15 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Connecticut turns 237 years old today. Here’s the story of how it became a state

Happy Birthday Connecticut!

As one of the original 13 colonies, Connecticut has an interesting founding story, from being the first state to write a constitution to being the fifth state to join the United States.

In fact, Connecticut became a state on Jan. 9, 1788 – 237 years ago today. However, the state’s history extends back much before that. To celebrate the state’s official birthday, here’s a look back at Connecticut’s history, from its very first settlements up until its statehood.

Connecticut history timeline

The journey to Connecticut becoming a state dates back thousands of years, as various Indigenous tribes have lived on the land for over 12,000 years. In fact, the name Connecticut comes from its first Indigenous inhabitants, who called the area “Quinatucquet,” an Algonquian word meaning “beside the long tidal river.”

Europeans first arrived in Connecticut in the early 1600s, with Dutch explorer Adriaen Block credited as the first European to explore the area in 1614. In the 1630s, the Dutch established a settlement near Hartford, while English settlements popped up in the modern-day towns of Windsor, Wethersfield and Saybrook.

In 1636, prominent Puritan minister Thomas Hooker traveled from the Boston area to Connecticut, officially founding Hartford. The towns of Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield soon joined together to create the Connecticut River Colony.

Despite the well-established trade networks with Native Americans, in 1637, the Connecticut Colony officially declared war on the Pequot. The conflict, known as the Pequot War, ended in 1638 with the Treaty of Hartford, which forcefully disbanded the Pequot tribe, whose people dispersed among the Mohegan and Narragansett tribes.

Why is Connecticut nicknamed the Constitution State?

In 1639, Connecticut Colony wrote and adopted the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, a set of laws establishing Connecticut as its own colony separate from Massachusetts. This document is believed to be the first written constitution of a democratic government, which is why Connecticut is nicknamed “the Constitution state.” The Fundamental Orders governed Connecticut Colony until 1662, when England officially granted the colony a royal charter.

Connecticut went on to play an important part in the Revolutionary War, producing soldiers in the Connecticut Militia, leaders in the country’s founding documents and famous patriots like Nathan Hale. After the war, Connecticut ratified the U.S. Constitution and became the fifth state on Jan. 9, 1788 – 237 years ago today.

Who was Connecticut founded by?

While early Connecticut had various towns founded by different people, the establishment of Connecticut is credited to Thomas Hooker, the Puritan minister who founded Hartford.

Known as “the father of Connecticut,” Hooker was a leading figure of the Connecticut Colony and the official minister of Hartford. In 1638, Hooker preached a sermon about the right to choose one’s own government, laying down the groundwork for the Fundamental Orders.

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Connecticut

Fudd and Strong dominate as UConn rolls past Xavier without Paige Bueckers

Published

23 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Fudd and Strong dominate as UConn rolls past Xavier without Paige Bueckers

Azzi Fudd had 18 of her 23 points in the first half as No. 7 UConn rolled to an 81-27 win over Xavier on Wednesday night.

Sarah Strong added 15 points — all in the first half — with seven rebounds and five steals for UConn (14-2, 5-0 Big East). UConn played without leading scorer Paige Bueckers.

Bueckers suffered a knee injury in Sunday’s win over Villanova. There is no timetable for her return, but UConn coach Geno Auriemma thought there was a chance Bueckers could return next week.

Allie Ziebell had 15 of her 17 points in the second half for the Huskies.

Irune Orio led Xavier (5-10, 0-4) with 10 points.

The Musketeers, who didn’t score their 10th point until 26 seconds were left in the first half, lost their 45th straight Big East game. Xavier trailed 43-10 at that point.

Takeaways

Xavier: The Musketeers falls to 0-9 against UConn. In the eight Big East matchups against UConn, the Musketeers have lost by at least 36 points seven times.

UConn: Fudd had her season-high in points in the first game without Bueckers. Fudd’s previous season-high was 18 points in wins over ranked Ole Miss and Louisville teams.

Key moment

UConn was already in command with a nine-point lead before Strong had eight points and Fudd five during a 15-0 run to put the Huskies up 30-6.

Key stat

UConn outscored Xavier 36-4 in points off the turnovers through the first three quarters. The Huskies had more steals than Xavier had points in the first half.