The storms that came through Connecticut Tuesday caused damage across the state and the governor said insurance companies will be allowed to bring out-of-state adjusters in to help with claims being filed for damage. 

Gov. Dannel Malloy said the Connecticut Insurance Department has activated its emergency adjuster program, which allows insurance companies to quickly register their out-of-state adjusters. 

“Residents and businesses who suffered damage from yesterday’s storms will understandably be seeking assistance with their insurance companies,” Malloy said in a statement. “Allowing out-of-state adjusters to assist will hopefully expedite this process and help folks during this time of need.” 

Insurance companies can access the emergency program online. 

“The majority of the damage from an event like this is going to be covered. It’s a matter of the deductibles. When you’re talking about homeowners and a wind and a rain event, the majority of that would be covered under a homeowners policy," explained Gerard O'Sullivan, director of consumer affairs for the Connecticut Insurance Department.

Residents and business who have insurance questions and concerns related to property damage can email the Connecticut Insurance Department at insurance@ct.gov. The department also has a page on what insurance policies typically cover.

“We always say to folks, be thankful it didn’t happen to you, but be prepared. And look at your auto insurance policies to make sure you have the coverages that you think you do. And also look at your homeowners policies to make sure you’re properly covered," O'Sullivan said.

A man buying lunch at a Midtown cafe threatened to call immigration enforcement on its workers — all because he heard them speaking Spanish. 

The man's rant was caught on video by a fellow customer, and has since had more than 1.5 million views online.

Office manager Emily Serrano said she was at the new sandwich shop Fresh Kitchen at Madison Avenue between 39th and 40th Tuesday when the incident unfolded.

She said she was speaking with her server — who speaks both Spanish and English — in Spanish, when she heard a man yelling next to her.

"He's screaming at the guy serving him, 'Give me my f***ing sandwich, you shouldn't be speaking Spanish, I feel disrespected, go back to your country,'" Serrano said. NBC 4 cannot independently verify what happened before or after the video Serrano shot.

She said she then looked at the man and told him he was ignorant, to which he replied that he was much more intelligent than her. She said she told him he might be more "book smart" than her, but he was still being rude. It was at that point she asked for the manager and started filming. On tape, a man in a white shirt is seen ranting to the manager of the store.

"Your staff are speaking Spanish to customers when they should be speaking English...every person I listen to...this is America!" he says.

Speaking about the Fresh Kitchen staff he goes on to say he guesses they're not documented. "So my next call is to ICE to have each one of them kicked out of my country. If they have the balls to come here and live off my money, I pay for their welfare, I pay for their ability to be here the least they can do is speak English," he says.

"If you intend on running a place in midtown Manhattan your staff should be should speak English."

Serrano then gets into a yelling fight with the man, where he tells her to take a break from food and and she tells him he should get hit by a car. "I just reached my breaking point," she explained.

After the video stops rolling, Serrano said the man "threw his sandwich in the area where they have the bananas."

He again threatened to call ICE and told her to, "Go back to Guatemala." Serrano is of Puerto Rican descent, born in New York. At that point she decided to call police. While on the phone to the dispatcher, the man left, she said.

A spokesperson for Fresh Kitchen said the staff were "in awe" of what happened. They said the cafe welcomes people from all cultures, and that everyone has a mind of their own. "But in public area, disturbing others or making comments like that is not right at all."

The man in the video is thought to be a New York lawyer. NBC 4 has left a message at the law firm seeking comment on the incident.

The New York State Bar Association said it was aware of the "situation" with the possible attorney: "He is not a current member of our voluntary association. We also do not handle attorney discipline." 

The National Weather Service surveyed storm damage in Brookfield on Wednesday and determined it was caused by a macroburst.

The macroburst had maximum wind speeds of 100 to 110 miles per hour, according to a statement from the weather service.  It impacted an area of land two and a half miles wide and five miles long.

A macroburst can cause more damage than tornadoes because of the "size and scope of the macroburst," according to National Weather Service experts.

The hardest hit area in Brookfield is the Candlewood Shores area where a number of trees were uprooted.

Other surveys are still being conducted and the National Weather Service expects to release those results by 8 p.m.

Keep checking back for the latest information on this developing story.

Harbor Freight Tools this week issued a recall for about a million electric chainsaws after three people were injured when their chainsaws continued to operate after being turned off. 

There were 15 reports of malfunctioning power switches in all, and one person's laceration injuries were serious enough to require stitches, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said in its recall notice.

Harbor Freight Tools's recall affects two models of 14-inch chainsaws sold under three brand names: Portland, One Stop Gardens and Chicago Electric. The Portland and One Stop Gardens brands are green and black. The Chicago Electric brand chainsaws are red and black.

The chainsaws, which retailed for about $50, were available at Harbor Freight Tools stores nationwide and through the Camarillo, California-based company's website from May 2009 through February 2018. 

Free replacements are available at the company's stores. 

Harbor Freight Tools can be reached at 800-444-3353 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. PT, or by email at recall@harborfreight.com. 

Click here for more details on the affected model numbers and other information.

Norwalk police have arrested a man accused of selling fentanyl-laced heroin in a drug-trafficking operation.

Police arrested 35-year-old Joseph Daniels Tuesday.

According to police, investigators began looking into Daniels in April after receiving multiple tips from the community that he was dealing drugs. Through surveillance operations and controlled purchases, police determined Daniels was in fact selling drugs and obtained multiple warrants for his arrest, police said.

Investigators said they found multiple bags of heroin, 30 grams of raw heroin, 40 grams of cocaine and steroids during a search of Daniels’ home and vehicle. Police also found packaging materials, scales, a money counter, and other items typically related to drug sales, and keys to two storage facilities.

In storage, police found another 4,500 bags of heroin, $55,000, cell phones and syringes.

Police said in total they found 4,700 bags of heroin during the investigation.

Daniels was charged with sale of narcotics, possession of narcotics, operating drug factory, possession of narcotics within 1500 feet of a school or daycare, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of drug paraphernalia within 1500 feet of a school or daycare.

Police said that Daniels is currently on parole and was remanded to custody by the Bridgeport Parole Office. His bond was set at $2 million.

Farmington police and the FBI are investigating a false report of an active shooter at the United Technologies property in Farmington Wednesday.

Police said the FBI received a report of an active shooter with people running from a building at the UTC property on Farm Springs Road. The call came from an out-of-state tip line in the Washington D.C. area. There were no local 911 calls or reports.

Farmington police responded and searched the UTC buildings, but found no threat.

Police and the FBI are investigating. Anyone with information about the call should contact Farmington police at 860-675-2400.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has told President Donald Trump's legal team that he won't indict a sitting president, according to Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump's lawyers.

"They (the special counsel) acknowledge the fact that they can't indict us," Giuliani told NBC News on Wednesday, indicating that the information had been conveyed to Trump's lawyers.

He added, "It's as clear as can be that they don't have the right to indict under the Justice Department rules. And I know they're not going to indict."

During the final months of the Clinton administration in 2000, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel said in a memo that "the indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting president would be unconstitutional."

The National Weather Service sent a team to assess damage in Connecticut after storms pelted Connecticut Tuesday, shearing the tops off some trees, toppling others and bringing down power lines. They determined that the storm that hit the Brookfield area was a macroburst. 

The focus of the National Weather Service team is on Bethany, Brookfield, Cheshire, Danbury, Durham, Hamden, New Milford, Newtown, Oxford, Ridgefield, Southbury and Winsted.

On Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service in Albany Tweeted that the survey team near Winsted determined the damage in the area is from straight-line winds and that more details will be provided by this evening.

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The storms have been blamed for two deaths. One man was killed in Danbury during severe storms that moved through Connecticut on Tuesday afternoon, according to the mayor. 

A 41-year-old woman was killed in New Fairfield during the storms, according to state police.  They said a 3-year-old child who was with her did not appear to be hurt.

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The storm knocked out power to thousands.

Gov. Dannel Malloy has signed a Declaration of Civil Preparedness Emergency to help towns with response and recovery efforts after Tuesday’s severe weather that left at least two people dead in Connecticut.

The emergency order allows state agencies to respond in local communities and offer assistance.

“Yesterday’s storms caused a lot of damage to infrastructure, public facilities, and private property,” Malloy said in a statement. “We have already begun the process to collect damage costs. This declaration will provide our state and municipal agencies with additional authority to help residents in the affected towns to expedite debris removal and deal with the ongoing restoration efforts.”

The governor said officers are also looking into whether the state can request a Major Disaster Declaration from the federal government.

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At the height of the storms Tuesday, more than 130,000 homes and businesses were without power. Thousands remained out Wednesday as towns and cities scrambled to clean up downed trees and power lines.

Brookfield, which was hit by a macroburst, declared a town disaster. The town of Southbury has issued a state of emergency.

High winds were a major damage factor across Connecticut during Tuesday’s storm, but in some parts of the state hail was to blame.

During the storm, hail pounded parts of the state including in Granby. Some people reported they were the size of golf balls or even bigger. On Wednesday people were cleaning up and working to repair the damage that was left behind.

Damage ranged from broken window to dented car hoods to pits in building siding.

Christian Vitti captured the wild scene outside his home on Upper Meadow Lane.

Nearby 14-year-old Patrick Taylor, along with his twin brother and their family’s dogs, took cover in the basement.

“It’s just scary. You can hear glass breaking,” Taylor said.

Next door, Lori Blackburn also searched for a safe place.

“There’s a window down at the end there and the hail came through and the hail ended up down here at this end of the house. It just blasted right through the house,” Blackburn told NBC Connecticut.

When the onslaught ended, people ventured out to find an icy layer covering their yards. Vitti discovered the hail smashed lights and damaged garage doors and the home’s siding.

“We actually put the plow back on the plow truck because the whole driveway and road was just covered in debris from trees,” he said.

At Taylor’s home, seven windows were broken and the siding on one side was heavily damaged. Similar things to fix at Blackburn’s, whose car also was in the line of fire. It’s now covered in dents and has a cracked front windshield.

“It can all be repaired. I feel bad that are down in the other part of the state and the people that were killed. We have damage but we’re alive and we’re fine. So, grateful,” Blackburn said.

Many are reaching out to their insurance company to hopefully get the damage fixed quickly.

The National Weather Service says two EF-1 tornadoes are to blame for the wide-spread damage during severe weather in Southbury, Oxford, Beacon Falls, Bethany and Hamden Tuesday.

Meteorologist Ryan Hanrahan confirmed a tornado in the Oxford area Tuesday. National Weather Service officials came out to survey the damage Wednesday and confirmed the storm was an EF-1 tornado with a 4.5-mile path length and wind strengths of 100 mph.

Officials also confirmed a second tornado with a 9.5-mile path length from Beacon Falls to Bethany to Hamden and wind strengths of 110 mph.

All of these towns saw extensive storm damage.

During the storm, Oxford police reported trees and power lines down throughout the town trapping people in cars. Roads were impassable and many people were trapped in their homes.

It was a similar scene in Southbury. The town has issued a state of emergency as crews continue working to clear up downed trees and wires. As of 10:15 p.m. Wednesday, 98 percent of town remained without power.

In Hamden, outages were peppered across the town. The worst of the damage was in the northern part of town, and Sleeping Giant State Park remains closed due to all the damage. The mayor has been in touch with Congresswoman Rosa Delauro to see about getting federal assistance.

Other areas of the state also saw extensive damage from straight-line winds. The storms proved fatal in Danbury and New Fairfield, where two people were killed in separate incidents when trees came down on vehicles.

Gov. Dannel Malloy has signed a Declaration of Civil Preparedness Emergency to help towns with response and recovery efforts.

Officials at a Milford church are concerned they might be out over $5,000 after a contractor hired to replace the building’s steeple failed to complete the project as promised. Months later, church officials are still waiting for answers.

Trinity Lutheran Church in Milford has stood the test of time. But the decades old structure needs some serious repairs.

Pastor Christopher Files said the church’s deteriorating steeple has been rotting for years.

“We exist only on the donations of our members,” Files said. That is why the church hasn’t replaced it.

Files said that last July the church moved forward with the project and signed a $10,500 contract with Trumbull Restoration in Plainville to renovate the steeple. The church put a $5,250 deposit down to begin the job.

He said the check was cashed a week later and was scheduled to begin in August. He said he was told the entire project would be finished by September, per the contract.

“We felt that Trumbull Restoration had a good sense of what we wanted,” Files said.

Files told NBC Connecticut that Trumbull Restoration came highly recommended by another Milford church that was happy with the company’s work. But the contractor didn’t make the same impression on Trinity Lutheran.

In September, owner Marcus McClellan notified the church it would be delayed.

Then, Files said it was one excuse after another for why the company couldn’t complete the work.

“They first had a problem with one of their trucks breaking down,” Files explained. “He let me know at one point that his father had taken ill.”

McClellan told the pastor the company was behind and the inclement weather would also put the project on hold.

“I was remaining hopeful,” Files said.

Files said he was patient at first. He told McClellan in an email that there was no hurry to complete it. But he started having reservations when things did not progress.

In February, the church sent a certified letter to Marcus McClellan get some indication as to where the project stands in hopes of bringing this project to a conclusion.

In the letter, the church also asked for a response in writing on or before March 1, 2018, which either offers an estimated date (or date range) for completing the project, or return their deposit of $5,2500.00, if he felt that he couldn’t complete the project as contracted.

Files said the letter was eventually returned to the church because no one at Trumbull Restoration received it. He then reached out to NBC Connecticut Responds.

Our consumer team attempted to contact Marcus McClellan multiple times through phone calls and emails, but to no avail.

We finally caught up with McClellan at his Plainville business to get his side of the story.

He declined to speak with us on camera. But he gave Responds this statement:

“I have a seasonal business and the church is on my calendar. I am an honest person and promise that I will go above and beyond to do the job.”

McClellan then told us to leave the premises.

Files said the church has filed a complaint with the BBB and the State’s Department of Consumer Protection and is now working with another contractor. The church intends to take legal action.

“It’s just painful when it happens to you,” Files said.

Despite a plethora of cyber threats, the White House decided to eliminate the role of cybersecurity czar from the National Security Council Tuesday, alarming many experts, NBC News reported.

While the departments of defense and homeland security will be on top of cyber threats, the federal government has lost the person who can aggregate them for the president, said Megan Reiss, a senior national security fellow with the R Street Institute, a nonpartisan public policy research organization. This means the West Wing may not see the big picture around what the director of national intelligence considers the number-one global threat and that countries like Russia and North Korea, or terrorist groups, could exploit the apparent disorganization and target the U.S.

"This is definitely not the signal you want to send to your allies and your adversaries," said J. Michael Daniel, who served as cybersecurity coordinator under former President Barack Obama.

Among the major threats known to U.S. government agencies and security experts are Russian election interference, Chinese espionage, North Korean intrusions and terrorists and criminals.

A new study has found that law enforcement methods for establishing “gang affiliation” in an effort to crack down on alleged MS-13 gang members has increased the arrest, detention and deportation of young immigrants in New York, regardless of proven criminal activity, NBC News reported.

“Swept Up in the Sweep: The Impact of Gang Allegations on Immigrant New Yorkers,” a report authored by the New York Immigration Coalition and the Immigrant and Non-Citizen Rights Clinic at the CUNY School of Law, details the methods law enforcement uses to profile immigrant youth of color by establishing gang affiliation. Law enforcement is given the authority to add individuals to gang databases when this type of affiliation is alleged, and it could hurt their immigration status.

“It’s not a crime to be a gang member,” said Babe Howell, a professor at the CUNY School of Law. “What we’re seeing is an addiction to policing based on profiling and stereotyping people, instead of focusing on evidence — on people that have actually done something" criminal.

Telemarketing calls can seem endless and annoying, but what if we told you that receiving one of those calls could make you $1,200 richer?

A lawsuit against Dish Network could mean more money in your wallet.

It all started with a man in North Carolina who claimed that Dish Network made telemarketing calls to him despite that fact that his number was on the Do Not Call List, which violates the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

He sued the satellite TV company and his case developed into a class-action lawsuit.

After a trial in January 2017, a jury found that Dish was liable for calls placed by the retailer to certain telephone numbers on the do not call registry.

So what does this mean for consumers?

If you received a telemarketing call from Dish in 2010 to 2011 and your number was on the Do Not Call list, you could receive up to $1,200.

If you're one of the thousands who got a call, you may have already received a form to fill out in the mail.

But if you'd rather not wait and want to check to see if your number was included in this lawsuit, click here.

In a statement, Dish told NBC 5: "Dish is being held responsible for telemarketing activities conducted by an independent third-party, which disobeyed Dish's express instructions to complying with telemarketing laws….Dish respectfully disagrees with the court's judgment and is appealing the case."

The president of Temple University's suspended Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity was arrested Tuesday after being accused of attempted rape.

Ari Goldstein, 21, of Wrightstown, Pennsylvania, is charged with attempted rape, attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, intimidation, attempted sexual assault, indecent assault, simple assault, unlawful restraint and false imprisonment.

He was arraigned Wednesday and is being held on $2 million bail.

Goldstein's arrest comes less than a month after Temple police issued a bulletin saying they had received "multiple credible reports" of various alleged crimes at Alpha Epsilon Pi events. The alleged acts reported included sexual misconduct, sexual assault, drug use and underage drinking.

Alpha Epsilon Pi has a house directly off Temple's campus at Broad and Norris streets in North Philadelphia.

Capt. Mark Burgman, head of the Philadelphia Police Department's Special Victims Unit, said three victims came forward in April reporting they were sexually assaulted. Two of the victims are 19-year-old Temple students, Burgman said.

The first incident happened in February at the fraternity house. Burgman said that case was referred to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office on Friday.

In the second incident, which happened in March, a female student said she attended a party and was given several drinks. She blacked out and later awoke in bed with one of the fraternity members, according to Burgman.

A third victim came forward to Temple police in April. Burgman said he didn't have details about that incident at the time.

Investigators have not yet revealed if Goldstein was involved in all three incidents.

In a statement posted to the chapter's Instagram page on April 1, the chapter said members are "appalled by these allegations" and vowed to cooperate with the investigation.

"Let us make this 100% clear: we have absolutely no knowledge of the actions alleged about our chapter. If we determine that one of our members is responsible — or even has knowledge of who internally or externally is responsible — we will deal with them to the full extent of our powers," the statement read in part.

The national fraternity said that it stopped all activities at the chapter.

"We are aware of the rumors and the nature of the investigation by Temple University Police and the local authorities and continue to cooperate fully with both," fraternity spokesman Jonathan Pierce said in a statement.

"The University has asked us not to conduct our own investigation and, to date, we have received no other official notice from the University. We are, obviously, very concerned about these allegations as they have no place in Alpha Epsilon Pi."

Temple police assigned additional patrols to the area around the fraternity house. A Temple University spokesman declined comment on the investigation.

The Alpha Pi chapter of the fraternity was chartered at Temple in 1956, according to the fraternity's website. The fraternity's mission is to "develop the future leaders of the world’s Jewish communities."

Alpha Epsilon Pi's suspension at Temple comes on the heels of a high-profile suspension of a different fraternity at Syracuse University. The Theta Tau fraternity was sidelined after a video surfaced from an alleged chapter event that featured racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic statements and actions.

Two workers at a Miami Cheesecake Factory have lost their jobs after a man said he was harassed for wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat in the restaurant.

Eugenior Joseph said he was at the Dadeland Mall eatery on Mother's Day with his girlfriend and her family when he was approached by employees who confronted him for wearing the red cap, which is popular with supporters of President Donald Trump.

"We were very disappointed to learn that two staff members made disparaging remarks about Mr. Joseph’s hat that made him and his family feel unwelcome," the Cheesecake Factory said in a statement Wednesday. "As a result, as of Tuesday those two individuals are no longer employed with the company."

Joseph told the Miami Herald that about a dozen employees surrounded his table and made him so uncomfortable that they left the restaurant.

"I'm 100 percent sure it's because I'm black and I'm wearing a Make America Great Again hat," Joseph told the paper.

The restaurant's statement said there was an all-staff meeting that was taking place around the time of the incident that "may have been perceived as a crowd gathering near the guests’ tables."

Cheesecake Factory said they'd like to have Joseph back to one of their restaurants.

"No guest should ever feel unwelcome in one of our restaurants and we are very sorry. Our investigation is ongoing and we have reached out to Mr. Joseph directly to ask for his assistance," the restaurant said. "We are taking this situation seriously."

A shoplifting suspect is accused of assaulting the West Hartford police officer who was trying to take him into custody Wednesday night, according to police.

Police said officers responded to Walgreens on North Main Street just after 5:15 p.m. and the suspected shoplifter had fled.

When an officer grabbed the suspect, 49-year-old Donald Anderson hit the officer in the head with a heavy bag, then ran in backyards, police said.

After the officer caught up to him, Anderson got into a fighting stance and hit the officer again, according to police.

As the officer tried to detain Anderson, the suspect forced the officer to the ground and punched the officer in the head, according to police.

When the officer kicked him off, Anderson ran and police were able to detain him.

The officer and Anderson were both evaluated at a hospital.

Anderson was charged with second-degree assault, assault on a police officer, interfering with police and sixth-degree larceny. Police said he will be held on $250,000 bond.