It was a tornado with winds hitting 110 mph and a succession of powerful microbursts that caused extensive damage across towns around New Haven Thursday, as powerful thunderstorms swept across the state. Slightly less than 10,000 homes and business were reported to be without power Saturday morning.
The EF1 tornado touched down in Bethany at about 4 p.m. Thursday and cut a path of destruction 11 miles long and as wide as 500 yards before blowing itself out in North Haven and and disappearing into Long Island Sound, the weather service said.
At about the same time, multiple microbursts, with wind gusts reaching 90 to 100 mph exploded in the towns of East Haven, Branford, North Branford, Guilford and North Haven, the weather service said.