Wind brings down trees, knocks out power in Central Mass.
By
George Barnes
Telegram & Gazette Staff
Posted Apr 5, 2018 at 8:38 AM
Updated Apr 5, 2018 at 2:13 PM
WORCESTER - High winds followed heavy rains Wednesday night into
Thursday, leaving thousands in Central Massachusetts without power. In
Worcester, a big, old tree toppled overnight on a house and cars on
Hartshorn Avenue.
The community hardest hit by power outages was Winchendon, where 91 percent of the town was without power Thursday morning. Classes were canceled in Winchendon public schools. The high school, which has a generator, was opened as a shelter at 3 a.m. for people without power.
“I haven’t seen it this bad since the (2008) ice storm,” said Winchendon Deputy Fire Chief Ricci Ruschioni.
Deputy Chief Ruschioni said power lines have been knocked down by falling trees, especially along Route 12. Two cars were hit by trees on Mill Street. There were reports of damage from all over town.
The National Weather Service said trees came down throughout Central Massachusetts.
A gust of 58 mph was recorded in Worcester. The wind took down a large section of a tree that caused extensive damage to a three-story house at 28 Hartshorn Ave., buried a car in the driveway in branches and damaged another parked on the street.
The damaged house is owned by the Degermajian family. Laurey Cousins, who lives next door, said a trunk of a double-trunk tree came down with a loud crash in high winds at 2:34 a.m., waking her up.
“Next thing you know, my daughter called and said a tree is on my car,” she said.
As it turned out, Ms. Cousins’ home was not badly damaged. He daughter’s car had some scratches and minor damage. She said she feels bad for her neighbors, who fared worse.
“The car windshield was crushed, the moon roof crushed,” she said. The amount of damage was difficult to assess Thursday morning because the car was still covered with tree branches. The second car had bumper and side damage.
The main roof and a dormer roof were damaged. A branch also pierced about 3 feet through the porch roof. The weight of the section of the tree that fell also collapsed part of a stone retaining wall in front of the house.
As to power outages, Thursday morning at 8:30 National Grid was reporting 8,199 customers without power, 4,011 of them in Winchendon. By 1 p.m. service to all but 81 customers had been restored. In the morning there were 144 customers without power in Worcester, 558 in Phillipston, 435 in Northboro, 121 in Southboro and scattered outages throughout Worcester County. Most of those outages had been restored by afternoon.
Wind gusts continued during the day Thursday, with gusts up to 30 miles per hour in some areas. A cooling trend is forecast after noon. A little snow, possibly 2 inches in some areas of Central Massachusetts, is expected Friday.
The community hardest hit by power outages was Winchendon, where 91 percent of the town was without power Thursday morning. Classes were canceled in Winchendon public schools. The high school, which has a generator, was opened as a shelter at 3 a.m. for people without power.
“I haven’t seen it this bad since the (2008) ice storm,” said Winchendon Deputy Fire Chief Ricci Ruschioni.
Deputy Chief Ruschioni said power lines have been knocked down by falling trees, especially along Route 12. Two cars were hit by trees on Mill Street. There were reports of damage from all over town.
The National Weather Service said trees came down throughout Central Massachusetts.
A gust of 58 mph was recorded in Worcester. The wind took down a large section of a tree that caused extensive damage to a three-story house at 28 Hartshorn Ave., buried a car in the driveway in branches and damaged another parked on the street.
The damaged house is owned by the Degermajian family. Laurey Cousins, who lives next door, said a trunk of a double-trunk tree came down with a loud crash in high winds at 2:34 a.m., waking her up.
“Next thing you know, my daughter called and said a tree is on my car,” she said.
As it turned out, Ms. Cousins’ home was not badly damaged. He daughter’s car had some scratches and minor damage. She said she feels bad for her neighbors, who fared worse.
“The car windshield was crushed, the moon roof crushed,” she said. The amount of damage was difficult to assess Thursday morning because the car was still covered with tree branches. The second car had bumper and side damage.
The main roof and a dormer roof were damaged. A branch also pierced about 3 feet through the porch roof. The weight of the section of the tree that fell also collapsed part of a stone retaining wall in front of the house.
As to power outages, Thursday morning at 8:30 National Grid was reporting 8,199 customers without power, 4,011 of them in Winchendon. By 1 p.m. service to all but 81 customers had been restored. In the morning there were 144 customers without power in Worcester, 558 in Phillipston, 435 in Northboro, 121 in Southboro and scattered outages throughout Worcester County. Most of those outages had been restored by afternoon.
Wind gusts continued during the day Thursday, with gusts up to 30 miles per hour in some areas. A cooling trend is forecast after noon. A little snow, possibly 2 inches in some areas of Central Massachusetts, is expected Friday.
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