Brief Storm Caused Isolated Outages, Road Closures
A brief but intense late spring storm bearing thunder, lightning, winds, and torrential rain, which passed through the area on the evening of Sunday, June 5, caused some tree sections to fall, resulting in isolated utility outages and temporary road closures, officials said Monday morning.
Eversource spokesman Mitch Gross said June 6 that at about 7:30 pm on Sunday, the electric utility received a call reporting that a tree section had fallen across Berkshire Road (Route 34), just east of its intersection with Fir Tree Lane and Skidmore Lane.
When that fallen tree section hit utility lines, it caused an electric outage for 143 Eversource customers in that area. Power was restored there by 10 pm, Mr Gross said.
Berkshire Road traffic was temporarily detoured while cleanup work and power restoration was underway, according to Fred Hurley, town public works director.
Sandy Hook volunteer firefighters responded to the incident, said Sandy Hook Fire Chief Bill Halstead.
At about the same time, a lightning strike caused a tree to fall onto the pavement on Taunton Hill Road near its intersection with Great Hill Road and Plumtrees Road, near the Bethel town line. The incident also caused a temporary road closure.
That incident also caused an electric outage for 17 Eversource customers in that area. Power was restored at about midnight, Mr Gross said.
Also, the storm caused a tree section to fall on the corner of Littlebrook Lane and Hemlock Road in Botsford, bringing down some communications lines. Botsford volunteer firefighters responded to the call.
Botsford Fire Chief Wayne Ciaccia said that firefighters moved the fallen wires, allowing traffic to pass through the area.
"We were extraordinarily lucky," Mr Hurley said of the minimal damage caused by the thunderstorm. There were no reported injuries due to the storm.