As much as 10 inches of rain floods parts of Connecticut. At least 1 person is dead

OXFORD, Conn. (AP) — Parts of southwestern Connecticut were hit hit by severe flooding from as much as 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) of rain, and at least one person was confirmed dead, authorities said.

Scott Pellitier, fire chief in the community of Oxford, told the New Haven Register on Monday that crews recovered the body of a woman who disappeared during Sunday’s storm.

Crews were still looking for a second woman who washed away as firefighters tried to rescue her, he said.

Firefighters used an aerial ladder to rescue more than a dozen people from a restaurant in Oxford.

National Weather Service meteorologist James Tomasini said that storms dropped as much as 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) of rain on parts of Connecticut and that a second round hit Suffolk County on New York’s Long Island overnight.

The weather service declared a flash flood warning for parts of Fairfield, New Haven, Litchfield and Hartford counties, the state’s emergency management services said on the social platform X.

Weather officials say the flooding was unrelated to Hurricane Ernesto, which on Monday was over the open Atlantic Ocean but still expected to cause powerful swells, dangerous surf and rip currents along the U.S. East Coast.