Strong Thunderstorm Sparks Fires, Floods Roads

A slow-moving thunderstorm dumped torrential rain on parts of Harwich Monday afternoon, with lightning sparking several house fires across the region.

The squall, which caused relatively little rainfall in Orleans, Brewster and Chatham, caused street flooding in Harwich Center and Harwich Port. Nearly a foot of standing water was observed at the intersection of Sisson Road and Route 28, causing some vehicles to turn around to avoid being swamped.

Frequent lightning sparked house fires in Yarmouth, Sandwich and in Harwich Port, where a house on Seaport Lane was damaged. Crews from several surrounding towns responded, and the blaze was snuffed in less than an hour's time.

The weather is likely to have contributed to a vehicle crash on Route 6 near Route 137 that involved a box truck. Details were not immediately available, but the crash closed the highway for some time.

While these incidents were underway, Harwich crews were also called to rescue kayakers who were said to be in distress on the Herring River. The kayakers were later located safely on shore.

This story will be updated as necessary.