Norwich Public Utilities reported parts of the dam collapsed about 7 a.m. After cutting electricity to 5,000 customers to avert “potentially catastrophic” infrastructure damage, the firm restored power Wednesday afternoon.
After a preliminary damage survey Wednesday, the National Weather Service reported four tornadoes, including a rare and destructive EF-3, hit Florida on Tuesday.
The meteorological service said that a seven-minute EF-1 tornado hit southwest Jackson County at 6 a.m. local time Tuesday, uprooting trees and damaging sheds. A preliminary assessment shows an EF-2 tornado in central Jackson County injured seven people, flipped mobile homes, and tore off roofs minutes later.
An exceptionally powerful cold front, wind shear, and a wet and unstable Gulf of Mexico airmass fueled the tornadoes, according to Tallahassee weather service meteorologist Don Van Dyke. Lower-scale tornadoes were more common than EF-3s, he said.
The Enhanced Fujita scale rates tornadoes from zero to five. Estimated wind speeds, observed damage, and weather service tornado surveys are considered. Winds can reach 136–165 mph in an EF-3 tornado. The winds can collapse entire storeys of well-built houses, severely damage huge buildings like shopping malls, overturn trains, pull bark off trees, blow away weak foundations, and lift heavy cars.
County spokesman Amy McCauley informed USA TODAY that a tornado in Catawba County damaged many mobile home park residences in Claremont, North Carolina, killing one and injuring four. She said the storm displaced 30 individuals and the American Red Cross was helping with shelter. The weather service first classified the storm as an EF-1 tornado with 86–110 mph 3-second wind gusts.
Houston County Coroner Robert Byrd told USA TODAY that an 81-year-old woman died near Cottonwood, Alabama, after a tornado hit around 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Byrd claimed the storm "rolled" Charlotte Paschal's mobile home three to four times.
Heavy rain across New England melted snow banks and quickly raised river and stream levels, flooding large parts of Maine's Atlantic Coast early Wednesday.