Wind storm knocks out power, downs trees

Nov 1, 2017

A massive wind storm that began Sunday evening knocked out power to thousands of tri-town residents. Approximately 30 percent of tri-town residents lost power due to the high winds. Though the wind had died down by Monday night, some residents still remained without power on Wednesday morning.

Although Eversource representatives posted on social media that the company expected to have power completely restored to Plymouth County by midnight on Tuesday, some 110 residents remained without power by the time Sippican Week went to press. Marion appeared to be the hardest hit, with 54 households, or two percent of customers, still without power.

The storm, which kicked up maximum gusts of about 60 miles per hour, and dropped 2.5" of rain on the area, according to the National Weather Service, wrought fairly minimal damage throughout the tri-town.

School was cancelled for all schools within the Old Rochester School District on Monday, due to the continuing high winds in the morning, and lack of power. By Tuesday, classes were in session again.

It was a busy time for the tri-town's police departments. Rochester's Police Department fielded 65 calls related to the storm, from  9 p.m. on Sunday through 11 a.m. the next morning. Most calls, according to Detective Donald Kemmett, were for downed power lines or trees across roads. Three cars in the town were damaged by falling trees. Five telephone pole transformers blew.

Marion reported similar damage, according to Police Chief Lincoln Miller. "It was a busy early Monday," he said. "There were a lot of trees and wires down and we had to call in extra help."

Point Road, Spring Street and Pleasant Street in Marion were all completely blocked off by fallen trees and downed power lines.

Some of those roads remained closed into Tuesday—Point Road wasn't opened until 9 p.m.. "There were numerous wires down, and they were live," Miller explained. "Eversource had a crew on the project, so we had to station someone there during trick-or-treating to make sure nobody got near the wires."

Miller also said that a few boats were knocked loose from their moorings, and that there had been reports of a house and car damaged by falling trees on Delano Road.

Mattapoisett also suffered damage from downed trees and wires; a representative from the town's Department of Public Works said that crews were still out on Wednesday morning, cleaning debris from roadways.

North Street was closed on Monday from Crystal Spring Road to the Rochester border for downed trees, while several trees fell in yards and across other roads. A telephone pole on Main Street was severed by high winds and flipped over, with most wires still attached.

The Marion Fire Department is urging those using generators to check their carbon monoxide detectors and make sure they are functioning properly. Generators placed too close to a house can be a source of carbon monoxide, a colorless, odorless and poisonous gas. The gas can be lethal if too much is ingested. The most common symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are headaches, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain and confusion.