Groton –  About 1,200 Groton Utilities customers, along with traffic lights in the area of routes 117 and 184 in Center Groton, were in the dark for less than an hour Friday after a tree that fell onto the power lines.

Groton Town police were dispatched to the area at about 2:45 p.m. Herb Cummings, general manager for GU’s electrical division, said crews removed the tree limb and power was restored by 3:18 p.m.

Groton’s Emergency Management Director Joseph Sastre said he expects that heavy rains later tonight could cause trees with weak root systems to topple. He said he also expects some shoreline flooding during the high tide and possible flooding associated with swollen rivers and streams.

Sastre reminds drivers to use caution on the roadways as water will undoubtedly pool when the heaviest rain starts.

Waterford police, earlier in the day, reported that a fallen tree or tree limb had temporarily closed down a portion of Ridgewood Avenue. That roadway has been cleared.