{"id":1070892,"date":"2026-07-05T23:42:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T23:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1070892\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T23:42:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T23:42:28","slug":"bristol-among-hardest-hit-as-severe-storms-sweep-connecticut-thousands-without-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1070892\/","title":{"rendered":"Bristol among hardest hit as severe storms sweep Connecticut; thousands without power"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Laura Bailey | TBE news editor | July 5, 2026 | <\/p>\n

Severe thunderstorms that swept through Connecticut during Fourth of July festivities Saturday night left Bristol among the state\u2019s hardest-hit communities, toppling trees, knocking out power to thousands of residents and pelting parts of the city with golf ball-size hail.<\/p>\n

City crews, firefighters, police officers, public officials and utility workers worked through the night responding to dozens of storm-related emergencies as high winds brought down trees and large branches across the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a credit to all of our frontline workers that we were one of the first communities to be made safe after the storm,\u201d Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu said Sunday. \u201cIt was all hands on deck for about six hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Left: Saturday\u2019s storm shreds a tree on Fall Brook Road. Right; Tree from last night\u2019s storm takes down power lines and stops traffic on Fall Brook Road. | Staff<\/p>\n

By 11 a.m. Sunday, Eversource reported 3,911 Bristol customers remained without electricity, representing about 12.9% of the city\u2019s customers. Tens of thousands of customers across Connecticut also remained without power after the storms swept across the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tree crews were out all night,\u201d Zoppo-Sassu said. \u201cThere were about two dozen streets with major limbs and branches down.\u201d<\/p>\n

While emergency crews spent the night clearing debris, most roads had reopened by Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs of right now, I believe all roads are passable,\u201d the mayor said. \u201cWe\u2019re expecting that there are some small roads that we didn\u2019t get to last night that we may get calls about.\u201d<\/p>\n

City officials believe a possible microburst may have caused some of the most significant damage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe there may have been a microburst in the upper Burlington Avenue, Jerome Avenue area,\u201d Zoppo-Sassu said. \u201cThat area was hit the hardest. There is some damage in Forestville, Federal Hill and one downed tree on the Bristol-Plymouth line, but the Jerome Avenue area was hit hardest.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Golf ball-size hailstones on Federal Hill. | Laura Bailey <\/p>\n

Given the widespread damage throughout central Connecticut, officials warned power restoration could take several days.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fear, due to the extent of the damage in the region, that this may be a multi-day event,\u201d Zoppo-Sassu said.<\/p>\n

The mayor said the storm developed with little warning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis storm was not expected, and it caught everyone by surprise,\u201d she said. \u201cThis was not on anyone\u2019s radar; this was not expected.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Left: Window on the north side of Fortier home on Goodwin Street broken by hailstone. Right: A large tree branch came down on the property of St. Joseph Church during Saturday\u2019s storm. | David Fortier<\/p>\n

With thousands of residents still without electricity, city officials urged people to check on neighbors, particularly older adults who may be without air conditioning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe encourage people to check on elderly neighbors,\u201d Zoppo-Sassu said. \u201cEven though it\u2019s not as hot today, it can still be hard without air conditioning.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city remains in contact with its Eversource liaison as restoration efforts continue. Officials advised residents without power to purchase coolers and ice, if necessary, or make arrangements to store perishable food with family or friends when possible.<\/p>\n

The mayor said the city is also working with the Department of Public Works on storm debris cleanup and is considering curbside collection or providing transfer station passes to help residents dispose of fallen branches and other storm debris.<\/p>\n

The Mayor\u2019s Office will continue posting updates on its Facebook page throughout the restoration effort, while residents can monitor power outage information through Eversource.<\/p>\n

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Seymour Park sustains damage from Fourth of July storm. | Staff<\/p>\n

Before you go!<\/p>\n

Support local news in Bristol, CT<\/p>\n

The Bristol Edition is an independent, nonprofit online newspaper dedicated to keeping Bristol informed and engaged. Your donation helps us deliver meaningful stories, highlight local voices, and foster a stronger community. Believe in the power of local news? Support us today!<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Laura Bailey | TBE news editor | July 5, 2026 | Severe thunderstorms that swept through Connecticut…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1070893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8818],"tags":[86641,381,293643,748,393,4884,16744,16,15],"class_list":["post-1070892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bristol","tag-4th-of-july","tag-bristol","tag-bristol-ct","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-storm","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116870026146079252","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1070892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1070893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1070892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1070892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1070892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}