Gov. M. Jodi Rell issued a warning Monday morning for people to stay off local roads and state highways because of numerous reports of water-covered roadways.

State emergency officials said there had been 4 to 8 inches of rain from the storm.

The rain, caused by a hard-blowing nor'easter that hit the state at 4 a.m. Sunday and is expected to continue to deliver rain to parts of the state into Tuesday.

Many roads were flooded across the state Monday afternoon due to the high rainfall totals. Channel 3 Early Warning Weather Meteorologist Scot Haney reported that as of Monday at noon, rainfall totals were 9.4 inches in Litchfield and 7.48 inches in Waterbury.

Winds had gust up to 57 mph in Norwich and 62 mph in Groton. Haney reported that the wind in Groton was only 12 mph away from hurricane-force winds.

"There is severe damage throughout the state," Rell told Eyewitness News. "We have lots of flooding in many of our cities and towns."

Rell said at noon that there were about 35,000 power outages across the state due to downed trees and poles. The number of outages was reduced to 23,356 at 4 p.m.

Connecticut Light & Power said that it called for backup assistance from other states to help restore power.

Rell said that the western portion of the state was particularly had hit by the storm.

"It's pretty ugly out there … it's pretty tough going," Rell said.

The governor said that she spoke with the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Monday and is seeking assistance for business owners and homeowners experiencing flooding from the storm. Rell recommended that anyone whose business or home received damage in the storm keep detailed records of the damage. (Related Story)

Travel Delays

Bradley International Airport remained open Monday afternoon, but there were a few reported delays. Rell said that Brainard Airport was closed on Monday because of power outages.

Bradley officials said that TF Green Airport in Rhode Island was closed after a construction wall near the security screening area collapsed. All departures and arrivals at TF Green have been canceled until further notice.

Shoreline

The heavy rain, combined with higher than normal tides from the strong winds created flooding along Connecticut's shoreline.

Channel 3 Eyewitness News Reporter Leon Collins reported that severe flooding in Shelton caused authorities to call for a voluntary evacuation. Collins reported that about two to three dozen people had been evacuated.

Collins reported that the heavy rains were causing the Housatonic River to swell, flooding an entire neighborhood.

Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Kevin Hogan reported that Niantic's new multi-million dollar boardwalk was also heavily damaged by the storm.

Crews kept busy cleaning up and assessing the damage Monday at the boardwalk at Ocean Beach, where Hogan reported the ocean deposited the beach.

Around 6:30 p.m., Route 15 in North Haven was closed in both directions because of flooding. The road was closed in the area of exit 63.

Central

Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Hena Daniels reported that many basements, back yards and low-lying areas were flooded in the central part of the state.

A voluntary evacuation was issued in Plainville due to the rising water.

"The basement started to flood a little bit. Behind my house there's a stream that's overflowed," a Plainville resident told Eyewitness News.

Collins reported that the Quinnipiac River had swelled 9 feet above normal in Wallingford.

Daniels reported that Hartford's Keney Park looked more like a pond Monday, with debris floating everywhere.

Harbor Park in Middletown was reported to be flooded at 8 p.m.

Western:

Emergency officials in Bethlehem told Eyewitness News that the heavy rains have put an Earthen dam in danger of being flooded over by water at Long Meadow Pond. Officials said at 1 p.m. that water had begun to go over the dam. Crews put additional sandbags and tarps at the dam to increase its height.

Residents of the area were put on alert, but no evacuations had taken place as of 1:30 p.m.

The Department of Motor Vehicles' Winsted satellite office on Torrington Road announced that it will be closed Tuesday due to flooding problems. The office is expected to reopen on Thursday.

Police urged anyone that needed to be on the roads Monday not to drive through standing water. Officers also urged residents of areas under voluntary evacuations to not wait until it's too late to leave and become trapped.

"The rain seems to have subsided in some parts of the state, but we still do have issues with flooding on the road, downed trees and poles," said Lt. Paul Vance of the state police.

Vance urged drivers to use extra caution on the state's roadways. He said that many roads remained blocked by downed trees in the northwestern portion of the state Monday afternoon.

"We had so many roads closed at one point that the list was too long to read," he said.

Haney forecasted that the rain could change to snow late Monday in parts of the state.

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