Flash flooding poses problems for residents

WEST HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- Milford and West Haven were two of the cities hardest hit by Friday's weather. Shoppers were turned away at the doors of the mall because of flooding, and whole neighborhoods had to deal with dangerous rising waters.

The rain hit hard Friday morning and built throughout the day, flooding streets.

Flooding basements, and even the Westfield Connecticut Post Mall in Milford started to go underwater. Water came up through the floor drains, ran down the stairs and the entire lower level had to be shut down.

"I just tried to get into the mall down below and there is a sign that says it's closed," said Al Saren.

The water wasn't even out of the road yet when people in one neighborhood started cleaning up.

According to the Milford Fire Dept., they responded to over 50 storm-related calls Friday from local road flooding, including all railroad underpasses, downtown, Point Beach, the West Shore area, and other isolated areas, due to the fast and hard down pours.

When News 8 visited West Haven Friday night we could see the high water marks, along with a pile of carpet, pads, and debris out of a basement. Inside the home, Eddie was cleaning the basement after raw sewage came in.

"So I left work quickly and water was gushing out, through here, and here, the bath tub and toilet, flooding, it just kept going," said Eddie Silva.

He had to move quickly as raw sewage covered his basement. The computer, the television and all electronics were taken up off the floor. And he was not alone in his neighborhood.

"It's like six inches deep down there," David Patrick said, "and a lot of stuff is floating, and a lot of stuff is wrecked."

In West Haven, the water was deeper than it looked. Kids ran home from the bus stop holding their shoes, meanwhile firefighters and police had to rescue dozens of people from their cars.

People were stuck under the train tressels, stranded at the gas stations, forcing them to take matters into their own hands.

One man tried to unplug the storm drain with a hoe. At the Dunkin Donuts drive-thru cars stalled out.

There was a car stuck here for like a half an hour," said Elizabeth Ara.

"So cars couldn't get through," asked News 8's Bob Wilson.

"Yeah, they were stuck in the drive-thru and on the street," Ara replied.