Wind a concern along New Haven County

WEST HAVEN, CT (WFSB) - Rain and the wind made quite a mess along the shoreline on Monday.

A coastal storm created choppy waves and led to plenty of downed trees in New Haven County.

Folks in West Haven planned to keep an eye on high tide Monday night.

“It’s all about strong winds, high tides, and flooding. All three make managing a storm difficult,” said West Haven Emergency Management Director Rick Fontana.

While flooding was a concern, the biggest impact came from the wind.

“About 3:30 in the morning, I heard this little crunching sound,” said Jeffrey Prates of West Haven. “Then I heard ‘bah-boom!’ I knew something hit the house.”

That “something” was a massive tree. It slammed down onto the spare bedroom of Jeffrey and Beth Prates’ Laurel Street home. It took out their fence and landed alongside his truck.

“It was a little nerve wracking at first,” Prates said.

The tree was one of many that toppled across West Haven during the storm on Monday.

“[There was] a lot of trees, down wires, [and] heavy wind,” said Fontana. “A lot of the trees are dead, they go down a lot quicker, creating a public safety issue for us. [The] fire department [is] out, police department [is] blocking roads. That’s what we’re dealing with.”

The leaves that came flying off the trees pose another potential mess.

“We had some flooding at high tide, and lots of leaves down, creating a real slick roadway. It’s almost like ice when you mix water and leaves; it doesn’t make it good for people driving,” Fontana said.

On Honor Road, a tree crew worked hard to open the road with a quick clean up, then moved over to Chauncey Street by the University of New Haven.

“I heard a loud smash and a big crack, didn’t know what it was, looked out the window, [and] the tree was all across the street to my driveway,” said Bob Lathrop of West Haven.

In Milford, the crashing waves and rough surf had many along Long Island Sound putting safeguards in place.

“As long as you’re prepared, it’s interesting to watch the waves, pretty exciting, but there are days when it gets pretty loud, and the house shakes,” said Steve O’Connell, Milford.