this was bridgeport, connecticut, where several buildings were badly damaged or even partially collapsed in an afternoon storm local reporters heard came and went quickly. the storm came in around 2:15 and lasted just about three minutes and by the time it was over, there was a mess of damage. reporter: up and down the coast today saw temperatures set from washington to new york and overheated and unstable weather system. that was fuel for the severe thunderstorms as they blasted on through bridgeport and brought down winds 60, 70, over 80-mile-per-hour winds across the region. reporter: then there was this kind of damage, cars, homes and buildings damaged in pennsylvania. on new york s long island and here in bridgeport where many residents found the storms brief but terrifying. unbelievable. i mean, we re facing the rath of god over here. it was intense, believe me. oh, it was crazy.
of emergency in bridgeport, connecticut, this morning. buildings in ruins and trees ripped from the ground. the storm caused millions of dollars in damage. mike tieeby in bridgeport, connecticut. looks like a mess behind you for for sure. good morning, chris. yes it is a mess. i got into town last night and amazing how much damage. bridgeport s mayor after surveying the damage after this very, very short storm he said it looked like godzilla came to town or ripped off roofs and tossed buildings and cars and it did look like that. folks didn t know if it was a tornado or hurricane that hit them, they just knew they were frightened. they arrived suddenly as summer storms often do in the northeast. look at the trees down over here. reporter: pounding rain driven by winds that in some areas briefly touched hurricane force.
reporter: a lot of people said the same thing, unlike anything they ve seen. these are people who lived along the coast for a long time. when you think of the damage, nine buildings collapsed and hundreds of cars that were damaged in somewhere and nearby aircraft tipped over and all that damage and the amazing thing is that rescue workers dealt with only minor injuries for the most part. that is good news because when i saw that little bit of home video, that looked like something else. have you seen crews out yet or cleanup going on yet? sure. we spoke with the mayor before and also state police lieutenant who said the cleanup will take a long time. a lot of power lines down and still 5,000 or 6,000 customers in bridgeport without power and down the line in pennsylvania even more than that. 100,000 people whose power remains disrupted at this point. a lot of work for these cash strapd cities. this happened at the wrong time. remember, chris, this only took