Strange Strength of Connecticut Tornado Friday

My aunt and uncle emailed me to say that they lost power around 4 PM Friday and didn't get it restored until Saturday evening. Pretty impressive considering they live in New Britain, Connecticut - during Hurricane Fran in Raleigh I remember that the city wasn't without power for much more than a day. The RA says that 50,000 people were without power at the height of the storm and some didn't get it back until Sunday evening! Here's a video of the damage in Wethersfield [Google Map], which the NWS says was caused by a complex combination of straight-line winds and tornado damage.

The NWS explains: "LATE IN THE AFTERNOON ON JUNE 26...A POWERFUL SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVED EAST-SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS SOUTHERN HARTFORD COUNTY... DOWNING TREES AND POWERLINES ACROSS MANY TOWNS...INCLUDING BURLINGTON... FARMINGTON... PLAINVILLE... WEST ARTFORD... SOUTHINGTON... BRISTOL... NEW BRITAIN... NEWINGTON... WETHERSFIELD... GLASTONBURY...AND MARLBOROUGH. HARDEST HIT WERE THE TOWNS OF WETHERSFIELD AND FARMINGTON. SEVERAL POCKETS OF STRAIGHT-LINE WIND DAMAGE WERE NOTED THROUGHOUT THE AFOREMENTIONED TOWNS."

The Hartford Courant has a summary of the NWS statement which is easier to read. Here's a plot of the storm spotter reports that day in the area in question:

The NWS goes on to say: "A MEDIA REPORT OF A STORE ON SILAS DEANE HIGHWAY DIRECTLY ACROSS FROM THE TOWN HALL [OF WETHERSFIELD] WHICH HAD ITS LARGE WINDOWS SUCKED OUTWARD... WITH A KAYAK FROM INSIDE THE STORE BEING DEPOSITED ON THE ROAD IN FRONT OF THE STORE."

This is surprising to hear them say, given that NOAA's own Tornado FAQ says: "Opening the windows is absolutely useless... if the tornado hits your home, it will blast the windows open anyway." Perhaps the windows were not sucked outwards but knocked outwards by a wind from the back of the building.