NWS: Tornado caused damage in RI, MA, CT
Sarah Doiron, Amanda Bates and Kayla Fish
22 hours ago
Gloucester, Rhode Island (WPRI) — A survey team from the National Weather Service (NWS) has confirmed that damage from Wednesday’s storm was caused by a tornado.
Hurricane damage extended from Killingly, Connecticut, to Attleboro, Massachusetts, including points in Foster, Gloucester and Lincoln, Rhode Island, the NWS said. The team is still working to determine whether it is a continuous track or a separate landfall, as well as the EF rating and size of the tornado (or tornadoes).
This is a breaking news update. See previous story below.
PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (WPRI) — Cleanup is underway after the National Weather Service (NWS) believes a tornado is “likely” to hit Rhode Island and Connecticut during Wednesday’s powerful storm.
NWS said Its suspicions are based on radar data and damage reports from the hardest-hit neighborhoods.
The hurricane’s exact strength, maximum wind speed and path remain unknown, although the NWS plans to survey the damage sometime Thursday.
The NWS issued two tornado warnings in less than an hour Wednesday afternoon as heavy rain and strong winds battered Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Story continues below video.
Bungy Road, which runs through Glocester and Scituate, appears to have received the brunt of the damage. Many trees were snapped, uprooted and twisted in opposite directions due to the strong winds that also toppled power lines and sent debris onto the streets.
“The sky got really dark,” recalls Bungee Road resident Eileen Rose. “The wind started blowing hard and branches flew everywhere.”
He watches: Storm damage on Bungy Road in Scituate and Gloucester (Story continues below.)
The situation was similar on Shippee Schoolhouse Road in Foster, where the road was littered with tree limbs and downed wires. The NWS also received reports of nearly 20 downed trees in nearby Killingly, Connecticut.
This comes less than a week after flooding caused by unusually heavy rainfall displaced dozens of Cranston residents and caused significant damage to a Providence shopping plaza. The NWS described Monday’s 10 inches of rain over a six-hour period as a “200-year event.”
Meanwhile, Hurricane Lee is heading toward New England and threatens another round of violent storms in the region in the coming days.
The National Hurricane Center issued a Tropical Storm Watch For much of the New England coast and Storm surge monitoring to southeastern Massachusetts before Lee arrived.
In a post on social mediaRhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency is actively monitoring “rapidly changing weather conditions over the next few days.”
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey issued a state of emergency Tuesday after flooding devastated communities across the commonwealth, especially in North Attleboro and Leominster.
New England has had its fair share of wild weather in recent months, including five hurricanes that left trails of damage in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. About a month ago, a storm dumped a month’s worth of rain over two days in Vermont, resulting in two deaths.
