A tree limb smashed in the cab on Mark Moulton's truck.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A severe thunderstorm hammered parts of North and Central County on Tuesday night, downing trees and limbs and leaving more than 8,000 customers without power.
The Berkshires, Eastern New York and parts of Southern Vermont were under a severe thunderstorm watch until 9 p.m. on Tuesday. The storm came through shortly after 6 p.m. with thunder and lightning and torrential rain.
Alerts and calls began streaming into dispatch and fire and police departments began calling in extra help.
When the rain let, the full extent of the damage could be seen — from uprooted century-old trees to scatterings of debris across streets and lawns.
As of 8:30, Brooklyn, Hoosac, Meadow, North Eagle just above Hospital Avenue were closed and the lower section of North Eagle was limited to one-way traffic. Trees were also down on Holbrook, Chestnut and Hall.
Mayor Jennifer Macksey had been getting a close-up look at the damage and speaking with residents.
"I've been trying to hit as many streets as I can so I have couple more streets to hit before I call it a night," the mayor said just before 9 p.m.
She said the city had mobilized the Fire and Police departments, Department of Public Services and Wire & Alarm.
"It's all hands on deck," said Macksey. "They are all doing the best they can ... we've got a lot poles that are split or leaning. But we have no reports of any injuries. ...
"It's a little bit of a mess out there."
National Grid was dealing with a townwide outage in Williamstown after trees and wires came down on Main Street. The utility was having to clear the way before it could power the lines back up.
That was delaying its response to other communities. Macksey said the city's crews couldn't do much about the tree limbs tangled in wire. until National Grid dealt with the power. However, there was no flooding in this storm unlike a year ago when torrential rains undermined and washed out roads around the city.
Two large tree limbs came down on Brooklyn Street, taking down wires and shutting off power to about half the street. Neighbors were out estimating how long it might take to clear.
Mary Lou Accetta said the street holds a block party every year. "We just didn't think it would be this early," she laughed.
The storm was more frightening for Mark Moulton, who had a close encounter with a very big tree limb. Moulton said he was mowing the lawn at the house he owns on River Street and could see the dark clouds moving toward the city.
He finished up, put the lawn mower in the back of his truck and was backing up when the tree limb came crashing down on the truck and a car parked next to him.
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Debris in Williamstown. The storm took out power in the town and along Route 7. About 3,000 customers aren't expected to have power early Wednesday morning.
"I saw it coming and was like 'stop!'" he said. The tree limb smashed the back driver's side of the extend cab and caved in the roof. Moulton had to get out on the driver's side, shaken and a little bruised. He said if he'd been backed up another foot or so, it would have dropped right on him.
Williamstown Police posted on Facebook that the storm left large parts of town without power and did severe damage to trees and electric poles.
"National grid is currently out working to restore power, but it may be sometime before this process is complete and dispatch is unable to provide time estimates," the department wrote. "Come morning, if you see powerlines down or trees in the roadway, please call dispatch so we can confirm that it is a location already on our list to be addressed. We have also been made aware of some issues with cell signal, but we are unable to provide any information regarding that issue. Our thanks to Williamstown, MA Fire District and the Williamstown DPW staff for their quick responses and assistance on the many calls being addressed."
Lanesborough and Cheshire Fire Departments asked residents to stay home and give them time to clear the roads. Drivers were asked to avoid Goodell and Miner streets in Lanesborough and downed trees in Clarksburg, including blocking Town Hall and Middle Road, and Stamford, Vt., forced residents to detour.
The Stamford Fire Department posted on Facebook that "there is a tremendous amount of damage throughout the community. Some roads are blocked. Some power poles are broken and the whole town is without power. Town highway, State Highway, Green Mountain Power, the Vermont State police and the fire department are working to resolve the situations as quickly as possible. If you have an emergency, we asked that you call 911."
Dalton reported multiple road closures including Old Windsor Road from the high school to Johnson when a large tree took down about 200 feet of wire. Trees were also reported down along Route 8.
"We had several thousand without power," said Pittsfield's Commissioner of Public Services and Utilities Ricardo Morales.
He said the city was responding quickly to the damage but there were trees down on Springside Avenue between Brown Street and upper Parker Street, on Lincoln Street, North Street and Hancock Road and along a dozen other less traveled locations and smaller trees.
Two large ones, one on 2nd St and one on Springside Avenue will take some more time to remove.
There is a marginal to slight risk for severe thunderstorms for most of the region Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service in Albany, N.Y. Thunderstorms may produce isolated to scattered instances of downed trees, tree limbs and power outages due to damaging wind gusts.
Listen to NOAA Weather Radio or go to weather.gov for more information about the following hazards.
Weather spotters are encouraged to report significant weather conditions according to Standard Operating Procedures.
Staff writers Brittany Polito and Sabrina Damms contributed to this report.
