Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Rain and Flooding Cause Problems Downtown

(The Connecticut River at Habor Park, 9 AM Tuesday)

A power outage just past noon in Middletown was caused by a blown power generator that was affected by flooding.

Power was out in downtown neighborhoods for hours and the Police Department and Middlesex Hospital were relying on generators for power.

Traffic lights on Washington Street heading toward Route 9 were out during that period.

Mayor Sebastian Giuliano also reported that a portion of Randolph Road near the South Fire Station was flooded and will be closed until flooding recedes.  On a nuisance level, the basement level of City Hall was flooding through a power portal.

Giuliano said that currently the Connecticut River is not at a stage that is problematic.

"But I can't speak to what may happen in a day or two," Giuliano said.

The National Weather Service is projecting that the Connecticut River will surpass the flood stage this in the next few days and crest later this week.

"I use a very unscientific method," Giuliano said.  "I look out my office window.  Right now the river is still below the railings along the walkway, and the pilings across the river on the Portland side are still visible."

1 comment:

Lady Cyclist (Beth Emery) said...

If you would like a more scientific look at the flood forecast go to the National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Services Web site for the CT River.
http://newweb.erh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=box&gage=mddc3&view=1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1

The River is forecast to reach 15.6 on Thursday at 2:00pm which is major stage flooding. Right now there is no indication if this is the projected crest or not. To put this in perspective the flood of 1987 was just about 17 feet. The famously historical floods of 1936 and 1938 where 28 and almost 26 feet respectively. At 17 feet flooding on Rt 9 near the railroad bridge can occur.