Over 1,000 residents of Warren lost power as the results of the swift thunderstorms that struck the area Thursday night, July 3. The latest figures provided by Rhode Island Energy the next morning, July 4, recorded 1,064 customers without electricity.

The storms, which brought torrential rains and severe wind gusts, came at the most inopportune time for many in the Route 136 vicinity, it being at the end of dinnertime, around 7:30 p.m., and just as the pre-Fourth of July festivities in neighboring Bristol were building towards the annual fireworks display set for a few hours later.

Fortunately, to some extent, the storm passed through relatively quickly, but still lasted long enough to leave some minor flooding issues and down tree limbs in its wake.

The most significant clusters of outages came in the northern part of the town and on each side, Main Street and Metacom Avenue extending to both rivers, the Warren and Kickemuit.

Later on the Fourth, Warren Fire Department Chief James Sousa checked in with some updated information about the storm and its aftermath.

According to his most timely figures, some 1,400 customers in town were still without power as of about 1 p.m. Friday.

It was an all-hands-on-deck situation for the Warren Fire, Police and Public Works Departments, said Sousa. For an approximately three-hour stretch from the time the storms struck, around 7:30 p.m., all WFD apparatus were in the field manned by some 20 personnel.

"It was pretty crazy all night; tree limbs on houses, on cars and vehicles in driveways. There were the power outages, roads blocked," said Sousa. "DPW was out with a back hoe, clearing limbs where power lines weren't involved. EMS was busy assisting residents with their H2O supplies, making sure their oxygen bottles were full and working. It was pretty crazy for a while."

Sousa reported one car accident, with no injuries, at the intersection of Child and Arlington Streets. Also, a couple on a small sailing boat became adrift in the Kickemuit and was attended to by the department. The boat was able to be anchored and moved with the approaching tide.

The remnants of the storm, broken limbs and brush, forced the closure of the East Bay Bike Path from Campbell to Bradford Streets, putting a cramp in the plans of Bristol Fourth of July Parade goers Friday morning. Sousa said Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management personnel were on scene clearing the debris.

(Updated, noon, July 6) Most customers in town did get their power back sometime Saturday, July 5. However, there were brief interruptions in service Sunday morning, July 6, according to Sousa, who said it was part of R.I. Energy's continuing response to the outages caused by the storm.

Keep track of R.I. Energy's efforts to restore power at its outage page, https://outagemap.rienergy.com/omap.