Hurricane Henri had downgraded to a tropical depression by the time it hit New Hampshire, but rains from the storm still swelled rivers and damaged roads in the Monadnock region.
While it was initially feared Henri could enter New Hampshire with hurricane force winds, the track of the storm ultimately swerved and lost strength over land, with New Hampshire missing most of the expected storm damage, although some parts of the state still reported small tornadoes and minor flooding.
While other New England states reported more damage and stronger rainstorms, with disasters declared in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and Connecticut, New Hampshire was mostly spared the worst of the storm.
The National Weather Service reported that there had been a total of 1.22 inches of rain on Monday and through Tuesday morning recorded at the Jaffrey Airpark Silver Ranch’s monitoring station.
According to the Concord Monitor, a tornado touched down in Marlboro, Massachusetts, and another was seen near Greenville, but there were no injuries or major damage reported from either event.
Approximately 4,000 customers statewide lost power as a result of Henri, according to William Hinkle, a representative of Eversource. From Sunday through Tuesday, Eversource restored power to approximately 1,580 customers combined in the towns covered by the Monadnock Ledger Transcript. Temple customers were the most effective, with about 600 customers losing power, 265 customers in Dublin, 165 in Hancock and 150 in Jaffrey.
The National Weather Service issued a river flood warning for the Souhegan River in the Milford area from Monday evening through Tuesday afternoon. Flooding was reported in both Milford and Wilton related to the river, along with other storm damage to the roads.
At about 7:45 p.m. Monday, the National Weather Service reported that the river had reached 8.6 feet, with flooding expected at 9 feet, and issued a warning predicting minor flooding in Milford. However, final reports indicate while waters were high, they stopped just short of flooding depth. By Tuesday morning, the Souhegan had receded to 7 feet – which is still about two feet higher than prior to Monday’s storm, but well below the height needed to cause flooding.
Wilton Fire Chief Don Nourse said members of the fire department monitored the river through the overnight on Monday and into Tuesday, but did not receive any reports of flooding.
Heavy rains did impact local roads. Stiles Farm Road in Wilton, a privately owned road, was the only road impacted by washouts bad enough to prevent vehicle travel, Nourse said, but other dirt roads throughout town also had washouts caused by the heavy rain.
“It’s not too bad, considering the amount of rain we had,” Nourse said. “But any of our dirt roads will have to be looked at.”
The Souhegan also flows through downtown Greenville, but there were no reports of flooding there, according to Greenville Fire Chief Charles Buttrick.
Like Wilton, there were several reports of roadside washouts caused by the heavy rain, Buttrick said, mostly in the Adams Hill and Russo Heights areas of town.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.