New England Wind Storm Kills 2; Tens of Thousands Lose Power

ean Breslin
Published: March 3,2017
Two people were killed Thursday as strong winds blasted through New England, bringing down trees and power lines, which left tens of thousands in the dark as a result.
Wind gusts as high as 65 mph were responsible for widespread damage in the region, according to storm reports from the National Weather Service. Downed trees killed 40-year-old James Marcelynas in Columbia, Connecticut, and a second person in Oxford, Massachusetts, the Associated Press reported. Both victims were in vehicles crushed by the falling trees.
"In just under a 24-hour period, ending late Thursday afternoon, there were 138 reports of non-thunderstorm wind damage in the Northeast," said weather.com meteorologist Jon Erdman. "Gusts 60 to 65 mph were measured in Rochester and Syracuse, New York, as well as Staunton, Virginia."
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Some 50 miles southwest of Columbia, the Wilbur Cross Parkway was closed in Orange, Connecticut, for about two hours after a tree came down on a van, the AP reported. Two people were hospitalized, but the severity of their injuries wasn't immediately known, the report added.
In Kittery, Maine, part of a 70-foot-tall pine tree was snapped off by the winds and crashed onto the roof of a dog day care facility, the Portsmouth Herald reported. None of the employees or dogs inside were injured, the report added.

Tree damage to a van is seen in this photo taken along the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Orange, Connecticut, on Thursday, March 2, 2017.
(CT State Police)

"There's a lot [of] structural damage, but if you were inside you wouldn't realize any part of the building was destroyed," Kittery Deputy Fire Chief Craig Alfis told the Portsmouth Herald. "In a situation like this, this is the best possible outcome."
Additional damage was reported in the town of Windham, New Hampshire, where the home of Lisa Sawyer was damaged by a falling tree, WMUR.com reported.
"It almost sounded like lightning, just a huge bang," she told WMUR.
No injuries were reported in southern New Hampshire, the report added, but about 30,000 homes and businesses lost power.
"I'm still in shock, really," Sawyer told WMUR. "It only happened a little while ago. I just want everyone to go and look at your trees. We're very blessed, very blessed today."
Massachusetts reported more than 38,000 homes and businesses without electricity Thursday, the AP said.
According to the Connecticut Post, more than 12,000 Eversource customers lost power during the storms. One of the state's hardest-hit towns was Weston, where about two-thirds of the population lost power, the report added.
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