Irene hammers Connecticut, leaving flooding and power outages behind

New Haven, Conn. (WTNH) - Gov. Dannel Malloy was touring flood-damaged areas along the shoreline Sunday afternoon as crews took on the task of restoring power to more than 700,000 customers.

In Bridgeport, Mayor Bill Finch announced an 8:00 p.m. curfew in the Downtown and East Side areas. Two substations were taken off line due to flooding. United Illuminating is assessing the damage to determine when the power can be restored.

Gov. Malloy was expected to tour East Haven this afternoon, where homes in the Cosey Beach were destroyed by the storm. Mayor April Capone called the damage from the storm surge "tremendous."

In West Haven, Mayor John Picard said rescuers had to save people from their home Sunday morning from three feet or more of water that was rushing through their home.

In New Haven, Mayor John DeStefano lifted the mandatory evacuation of Morris Cove.

More than 700,000 electric customers were without power from the storm. It was the worst outage in history for Connecticut Light & Power, surpassing the outages caused by Hurricane Gloria.

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Irene is weaking and moving out of the state. But not before knocking out power to over 600,000 residents and leaving a path of downed trees and flooding in its wake.

Irene was downgraded to a Tropical Storm as it made land at Coney Island in New York, with sustained winds of 65 miles per hour.

Connecticut Light & Power reported more than 454,000 outages across the state. United Illuminating had more than 79,000 outages.

The Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security said "This is a still a dangerous storm. Stay sheltered and keep off the roads."

"I think we'll have this heavy rain around for at least another hour," Storm Team8 Meteorologist Gil Simmons said around 9:20 a.m.

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Gov. Dannel Malloy said a person was killed in the Town of Prospect in an accident related to Hurricane Irene.

The death was believed to be from a power line that pulled away from a house. The victim was not immediately identified.

The governor said a tractor-trailer ban is now in place throughout the state, and the Merritt Parkway and Wilbur Cross Parkways were closed.

I-95 is not technically closed, Gov. Malloy said during a 7:00 a.m., briefing, but he said "no one should be on the road" unless their involved in emergency work.

"If a relative is threatening to go out, take their keys," the governor said.

The governor said he was concerned about high tide and flooding along the shoreline. There is already stream and urban street flooding.

Danbury has already seen more than 5 inches of rain. Mayor Mark Boughton said on Twitter "I have never seen the Still River this high."

In Seymour, First Selectman Paul Roy declared a state of emergency in town and closed all roads in town.

As of 8:10 a.m., Connecticut Light & Power reported more than 322,000 outages across Connecticut, a number that has spiked dramatically as the morning went on. United Illuminating reported more than 61,000 outages.

The number of outages for CL&P is greater than the number of customers who lost power during Hurricane Bob  on Aug. 18, 1991.

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As Hurricane Irene continues her march towards Connecticut, tens of thousands of people find themselves without power. Flooding and downed trees have cut off roadways.

Along with the hurricane, a tornado watch is in effect for the Connecticut shoreline counties.

At 5:00 a.m. Irene was along the Jersey Shore and movign towards Connecticut at about 18 MPH. As the storm grows closer the wind picks up, and the rain has been relentless. A couple inches of rain has already fallen, and more will come.

In Stamford, the Belltown volunteer fire department reports on person was hurt when a tree went into a house on Fara Drive.

Roads were closed across the state for downed trees, flooding or other safety concerns. Included in that was Route 15 South between Exits 33-31 in Stamford when a tree fell onto the Merritt Parkway.

In his final press conference of the night on Saturday, Governor Malloy said that Irene could bring in more rain and flooding that previously expected.

Authorities in New Haven, East Haven, Fairfield, Norwalk and Shelton issued mandatory evacuations in advance of Hurricane Irene making landfall in Connecticut,

Throughout the night heavy rains soaked the state, and stronger winds began to work their way into the shoreline. With the worst part of the storm still over 200 miles away, some 39,000 residents already find themselves without power.

Irene is still a Category 1 hurricane, with sustained winds of 80mph, and gusts up to 100mph. The storm is expected to make landfall in Fairfield County around lunchtime on Sunday.

It is expected that the highest winds will hit Connecticut at two different times. As the storm moves into the area, the winds will be their strongest between 3am and 11am. Once the eye of the storm passes by, winds will change direction and be their strongest between 1pm and 6pm