Wednesday, August 21

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Two people were killed and hundreds of others were forced to evacuate in Connecticut after heavy rains recently.

A strong storm battered Connecticut on Sunday and Monday, bringing heavy rain and intense flash flooding. Entire towns, such as the state's third most populous city of New Haven, were inundated as the rain continued to pour down, with the water entering homes and business as well. Roads were completely covered in water overnight, making driving impossible in some areas. Flash flood emergencies were announced in three cities on Sunday, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate from their homes as the water reached dangerous levels-- mudslides were also reported in regions with some hilly terrain. Two residents were killed in the town of Oxford after both were swept away by floods just minutes before firefighters arrived on the scene. Experts described the rainfall as a one in 1,000-year event, as Connecticut is relatively rainy but doesn't normally receive so much rain at one time.

In fact, the average rainfall totals in the city of Stamford for the entire month of August are around 3.5 inches, while the city received over 6.4 inches on Sunday alone. The city of Newtown received over 12 inches of precipitation in some areas, while the rest of the city got around 10 inches. Monroe and Middlebury also received over 10 inches-- all of these cities are located in Fairfield County, which is Connecticut's westernmost county near New York City. Fairfield and New Haven Counties took the brunt of the hit from the storm, with other counties in the east only receiving a couple of inches of rain. Litchfield and Hartford Counties, also located in the western half of the state, were impacted by 6-12 inches in some areas as well, but weren't as badly hit.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont issued a state of emergency to get faster aid and take more action to save any other citizens who might require water rescues, and that has helped in their response to the situation. Thankfully, the storm has now moved out, and sunny weather has arrived in Connecticut to help firefighters and emergency response teams get everything back to normal as fast as possible. However, some major roads are still shut down due to the large amount of standing water that remains in many areas across the western portion of the state, but they should reopen in the coming days.

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Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): The peak of Chimborazo, a stratovolcano in Ecuador, is actually the farthest point from the center of the planet due to the fact that it is situated near the equator, where the Earth is widest. In fact, Chimborazo is over 6,800 feet farther from the center of the Earth than Mount Everest!

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): The only defense against the world is a thorough knowledge of it. (John Locke)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Propensity (noun)- A propensity is a strong natural tendency to do something.

In a Sentence: As a child, she had a strong propensity for mischief.