Community Corner

Rain Stops, Causes Minimal Problems, Official Says

About 1 to 2 inches of rain has fallen with no reports of major flooding in town.

One to 2 inches of rain has fallen on Newtown, causing streams and rivers to swell Friday morning but doing relatively minimal local damage, officials said.

Forecasts called for as much as 4 inches of rain at one point but the storm that passed by appeared to have less of a bite than expected.

 “We were lucky – had that thing not tracked west of us, we would be sitting in 4 inches of rain,” Public Works Director Fred Hurley said.

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A rain gauge on Taunton Lane reported about one and half inches of rain as of 7:30 a.m. while the National Weather Service said that the closest reading in Danbury measured slightly more than 2 inches at about the same time.

The rainfall began winding down at about 10 a.m. although the excess water runoff is expected to cause rivers and streams to continue to swell, posing a potential flooding danger later.

Find out what's happening in Newtownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A flood watch remained in effect until 6 p.m. Water inundated some low lying areas, such as on Brushy Hill and Deepbrook roads, while other normally flood-prone areas such as Shady Rest were trouble-free as of about 10 a.m.

While flooding did not appear to be a problem in town, the rain did wreak roadway damage that crews are working to patch, including catching up on problems that were first noticed after Monday's heavy rains on Fox Run Lane, officials said.

Another problem was the soft mud found on several of the dirt roads, which could cause cars to become stuck.

“We’re hitting mud season," Hurley said. "That’s going to be a problem now through April."

The forecast calls for dry conditions now through the weekend and into next week, the National Weather Service said.

Mostly cloudy skies will be on tap for Friday and Saturday with the high temperature expected to be in the mid-50s.

Mostly sunny skies are expected to return Sunday with a high of 48-degrees, the National Weather Service said.


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