Thousands Lost Power in Rhode Island and Connecticut Following Fierce Storms

About 100,000 customers lost power in Rhode Island on Tuesday following severe early-morning thunderstorms. In Connecticut, Eversource reported about 5,000 outages as of mid-day.

NBC Connecticut reported that one person died in Groton from a fallen tree possibly related to the storm. The person's name had not yet been released.

Trees were reportedly down in Bethel and Danbury, blocking Route 6, according to the News Times. A car was crushed on West Wooster Street. No injuries were reported.

National Grid reported that the majority of its customers without power in Rhode Island were located south of Warwick, and in the Cranston area. 

"We have some damage to our lines -- some damage related to wind and lightning," Darlene Masse, a spokesperson for National Grid, told Rhode Island Public Radio. "We are calling in extra crews to work on restoration."

Several campers in Rhode Island's Burlingame State Park received minor injuries in the storms. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management said that nine were hurt, and one of them was taken to the hospital after falling trees struck campers or their tents.

National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Doody told RIPR the storm struck Rhode Island between 6:00 and 7:30 am. “We had a recorded gust of 67 miles per hour at TF Green Airport,” he said. “But we believe that there were stronger winds elsewhere in the storm. Several reports of trees down -- some, unfortunately, on some homes, as well as a little bit of minor street flooding.” Some parts of the state saw small amounts of pea-sized hail, he said.

Doody said it looks like an active day is in store. “We’re expecting this to kind of clear out, you may even see some sunshine for a little while. And then we’ll head into the afternoon, and then unfortunately we’ll have to watch it again for the possibility for some strong to severe storms this afternoon,” he said.

National Grid reminds residents not to touch or go near downed power lines. Customers can report a local power outage at the company's website.

This report includes information from The Associated Press and from a report originally published at Rhode Island Public Radio.