Storm Socks Newtown

By Steve Bigham

What is being described as a storm microburst set down in the center of town near Dickinson Park Saturday afternoon and proceeded to leave behind a narrow path of destruction.

The destructive power of the storm lead some to believe that a tornado had touched down in town, though a meteorologist said there were no reports of any tornadoes in Newtown.

At about 6:35 pm, the high wind rolled its way across town from Elm Drive, over to Lovell’s Lane, over to Fairfield Hills, down onto Mile Hill Road South, and across to Hitfield Road. The storm uprooted several trees and snapped several trees about halfway up the trunk. Nearly 4,500 Newtown customers lost power, according to CL&P.

“If you draw a line, you can see that it cut a narrow swath across town and then it just ended,” explained Fred Hurley of the Newtown Highway Department. “A lot of big trees went down but there was very little property damage.”

The storm hit the VFW on Tinkerfield Road before picnic-goers there could react. Food was destroyed, as was some of the disk jockey’s equipment, which became soaked from the downpour. Also falling victim to the storm was a party tent, which was blown away, as were tables and chairs. Trees were ripped from their roots and rocks pulled from the ground.

“It looked like a tornado to us the way some of the trees were twisted,” noted George Lockwood. “It was one of the worst storms I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen some bad ones.”

Don Leavitt of 18 Elm Drive inspected the damage along Elm Drive and at Dickinson Park in the hour after the storm. His home lost power at 6:30 pm and was without electricity for some 16 hours. He reports hearing hail on the roof and then hearing the wind tear across the landscape. The brunt of the storm narrowly missed his home by just a few hundred yards, moving its way instead across Elm Drive over to the Queen Street area.

Dickinson Park appears to have been ground zero for this short, but violent storm. Fallen trees littered the landscape earlier this week, including two that fell in the softball field, crushing the left and centerfield fences. Parks & Recreation Commission Chairman Larry Haskel was at a family reunion in the park’s pavilion when the storm hit. The high winds sent food, drinks and a ping pong table hurling through the air. Trees fell all around them.

“We got creamed,” Larry said this week. “There was lightning right above the pavilion and the rain was coming in sideways in sheets. Everybody ran for cover in the bathrooms and shed.”

Mr Haskel said things got scary there for a minute, “At first it was like, `what is this?’ Thebn it got worse and worse. That’s when people started getting nervous.”

Gary Lessor of the Western Connecticut State University weather center said there were no reports of tornadoes in the area on Saturday. He said what hit Newtown Saturday afternoon was a microburst, a phenomenon that occurs when air rushes down from a thunderstorm, hits the ground, and then accelerates out from there.

“Whatever is in its path will get wiped out. You can have wind speeds of 80-120 mph,” he explained. “It’s very similar to hurricane winds as far as the intensity goes.”

According to Susan Marshall of CL&P, 1,665 customers lost power in the Mile Hill Road area, 915 in and around Bushy Hill, 836 in the area of Mount Pleasant Road, and 500 at Bennetts Bridge Road. Several others lost power on Elm Drive, Pine Tree Hill, Surrey Trail, and Mountain Manor.

The dispatchers at Edmond Town Hall (fire and ambulance) reported receiving 22 calls Saturday between 6:42 pm and 10:30 pm. Most of them were for either false alarms or for wires down. Dispatch chief Jim Crouch called Saturday the toughest few hours ever in the dispatch office as alarm systems were knocked out all over town. Four dispatchers (the most ever) were on hand at one time, including a police dispatcher who was forced to go up to town hall after the police department’s radio system was knocked out. Making matters worse, the 911 line between police and town hall was also out, so all police calls were taken by a police dispatcher, who, in order to instruct patrolmen, then had to call a second police dispatcher at Edmond Town Hall using a regular seven-digit phone line.