The calm after the storm

New Haven (WTNH) - 20,000 residents are still without power Saturday morning after severe weather ripped through the state.

That number dropped significantly from the more than 42,000 outages originally reported Friday evening by CL&P and United Illuminating Co. The number of outages continued to decrease throughout Saturday morning as crews fixed utility problems caused by the wild weather. Most of the outages were in Farmington (6,100) and Wethersfield (6,300).

CL&P spokesman Jeff Tilghman said the utility company is bringing in crews from out-of-state to assist in cleaning up and restoring power. Those crews will be fixing broken poles, downed trees and damaged transformers.

Tilghman also warned residents to stay away from downed power lines, and report them to either police or the utility company.

Severe weather warnings were issued Friday evening for southeastern Hartford County, south central Tolland County, northwestern New London County and southwestern Windham County, including Willimantic. All tornado warnings, which had covered parts of the state, expired by 6:15 p.m.

Storm Team 8's Geoff Fox said the slow-moving storms produced heavy rains and destructive wind gusts. Hail was also reported.

Reports of downed trees, power lines and flooding came in from all across the state. Some homes in Wethersfield sustained extensive damage, so the Wethersfield Fire Department opened an emergency shelter for anyone needing shelter due to damaged homes or health issues.

The Wethersfield DMV office is closed Saturday due to lack of power and downed tree limbs. DMV customers should go to either the Enfield or New Britain offices, officials said. Anyone who has a driver's license test scheduled today at the Wethersfield office should call the DMV Phone Center at 860-263-5700 to reschedule the test.

Because of the weather, the Town of Hamden postponed their Fourth of July Fireworks Display until Saturday evening.

The storm has caused major problems for roadways in Farmington. Due to downed trees and powerlines, Route 6 is closed in both directions between Wolf Pit Road and Fieneman Road, and South Road is closed from Two Mile Road to the entrance of West Farms Mall and the West Hartford. Route 4 at Monteith Drive is now open after being closed to one lane of traffic late Friday night and into early Saturday morning.

Due to wire damage caused by the storm, buses will substitute for train service on the New Canaan Branch until further notice.