ELECTRICAL STORM CAUSES DAMAGE TO PROPERTY IN STATE.

Bridgeport and Vicinity, Get Small Trace of Thunder and Lightning Reporter.

RIVERS RISES AGAIN.

Flood Recurring in Housatonic Area---New Haven Reports Losses from Water.

The storm yesterday was accompanied by a few flashes of lightning and peals of thunder. Weather observers cited this as a probability of the early coming of springlike weather. Severe thunder and lightning, which carried with it considerable damage in various parts of the state, did not occur in Bridgeport and vicinity, the peals and flashes being few.

Danbury Affected.

DANBURY, Feb. 15.---This section had its first thunder and lightning storm today, with rain falling most of the day. The streams in this vicinity are again at flood tide and many of the lowlands again are flooded. The Housatonic river, which overflowed its banks last week, but which dropped with the colder weather late in the week, was very high again today and houses in the vicinity of Southbury again were surrounded by water. The highway near Kent is covered with water making a detour necessary.

Damage in New Haven.

NEW HAVEN, Feb. 15.---Considerable damage to electric light circuits resulted from the electric storm here this afternoon. Lightning struck a pole in Derby avenue putting a transformer box out of commission, which cut off the power in five houses and put two telephone lines out of order. In Townsend avenue, water seeping into a manhole soaked cable and out 800 telephones into Morris Cove section out of commission.

The rainfall was 44-100 of an inch until 8 o'clock tonight, but the melting snow and ice added to this and taxed storm sewers to capacity and made walking extremely uncomfortable. The rain brought a rise in temperature of three degrees, the thermometer going from 39 in the morning to 42 in the afternoon and evening.

The electric storm, the first of the year, struck here about noon. There was a heavy peal of thunder and three or four flashes of lightning.

The pole struck by lightning in Derby avenue was used jointly by the New England Telephone company and the United Illuminating company. The pole was undamaged, but the door of the transformer box was hurled to the ground. Officials of the telephone and illuminating companies said that lightning-damage in February was very unusual.

Bridgeport Telegram, Bridgeport CT Feb 16, 1925
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Transcribed by Linda Horton. Thank you, Linda!