FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Gov. Jodi Rell declared a state of emergency Monday after touring the state's shoreline, which remained littered with tangled trees and wires from Saturday's storm.

Rell toured Fairfield County Monday morning and declared the damage from the storm the worst she's ever seen. Three storm-related deaths were reported and more than 100,000 Connecticut residents were left in the dark.

Tens of thousands remained without power Monday evening and crews were working to repair utility poles and removed trees toppled by the storm. About 50,000 remained without power Monday evening.

The worst of the damage was reported along the state's shoreline, especially in southern Fairfield County.

"Saturday's storm was among the most destructive to ever hit Fairfield County and the damage is simply astounding," Rell said. "Power lines are down, countless homes and businesses are damaged and thousands of trees -- some as large as 5 feet in diameter -- were simply bowled over."

The town of Darien was left dealing with dozens of downed trees and wires. Officials said multiple roadways were impassable and advised against non-essential travel. They said all downed power lines were to be considered energized. They said the power outages would be lengthy and that Connecticut Light & Power crews were working to restore power, beginning with high priority locations first.

Classes were canceled at Darien schools on Monday because of the damage and outages. New Canaan, Norwalk, Greenwich, Vernon and Stamford also closed schools on Monday. Multiple districts, including Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Stamford and Norwalk, were forced to cancel classes for Tuesday as well. Click here for a full list of closings

Along the shore, downed trees, twisted limbs and tangled utility wires covered roads. Some trees fell on homes and others destroyed cars. A woman was killed and three others injured when a tree fell on a car in Westport on Saturday. Police identified the victim as 39-year-old Jennifer Thibault of Long Valley, N.J. Another man's legs were broken when a tree fell on his car in Fairfield.

Another woman was killed by a falling tree Saturday evening in Greenwich. Greenwich police said a husband and wife were walking to a friend’s house at about 6:30 p.m. when part of a pine tree fell on them. They were both taken to an area hospital, where the wife later died.

A Lyme man drowned Sunday while trying to clear storm debris from a flooded pond.

Towns along the shoreline had their fair share of stories of trees that smashed through homes and businesses. A large tree fell in Bridgeport, crashing into a home built during the turn of the century, and ripping out part of a utility pole with it.

"I was at home and I looked out my window and the tree fell then the lights came out and the power went out completely," said Raymond Febrez.

The heavy rains forced a Meriden nursing home to evacuate early Sunday morning after water leaked onto an electrical panel. The 84 residents of Cocomo Memorial Health nursing home on Cone Avenue were moved to other area facilities amid the threat of a power outage.

"The rain has wreaked havoc on homes, businesses -- now it's our turn," said Brian Bedard of Apple Health. "Even though we didn't lose power, the opportunity to lose power existed so it made sense to evacuate then wait for loss of power."

The storm also caused substantial flooding in the eastern part of the state. More than 7 inches of rain fell over the weekend in the Norwich area.

High winds loosened up the flashing on New London High School. Firefighters were called to the building Monday to quickly make repairs to prevent water from getting inside the 40-year-old building.

Two warming shelters remained opened Monday night for those without power. A shelter was opened at the Western Civic Center on Pemberwick Street in Greenwich. Another shelter was opened at St. Aloysius Church on Maple Street in New Canaan.