Thousands still without power following Sunday’s damaging thunderstorms
Six were injured in a New Hampshire tent collapse; more storms are predicted for Monday.
Nearly 5,700 customers remain without power after thunderstorms tore through the region Sunday, downing trees, damaging homes, and leaving roads impassable.Those waiting for restoration of electricity were scattered throughout eastern and central Massachusetts, with concentrations of outages around Worcester, and in many of the communities surrounding Boston, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency outage map.Thunderstorms began to roll through the state during the late afternoon and evening Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.In Wakefield, police said just after 6 p.m. on Sunday that they were “inundated” with calls about downed trees and wires, a Facebook post said. A resident’s video of the storm showed a tree falling into a neighbor’s pool.
Video from a resident shows the moments a giant tree came crashing down into a neighbors pool in Wakefield. Residents say this was a crazy storm with very intense winds. Trees were swirling. 📸 Sarah Wegman pic.twitter.com/pAxpfvVBPU
— Kathryn Sotnik (@KatSotnik) August 23, 2020
Another family had a tree come crashing down into their home, destroying the family room, according to WHDH.
Wakefield police urged caution on Monday as the town continued to clean up from the storm. Salem Street between Pleasant and Vernon streets was closed as a tree was removed, according to a Facebook post.
In New Ipswich, N.H., winds on Sunday took down tents where a religious retreat for the evangelist group The Last Reformation was being held. Six people were injured, including one person who suffered a broken arm, according to the Associated Press.
“They were very lucky, given the severity of the storm,” New Ipswich Deputy Fire Chief Gary Somero told WHDH. “As soon as I pulled into the tent site, there was a lightning bolt that struck right in front of my pickup, and so the lightning was severe and it certainly could have been much worse.”
A video posted to the group’s Facebook page shows founder Torben Søndergaard holding a camera with multiple emergency vehicles at the scene.
“I’ve never seen any wind like this,” Søndergaard said in the video, part of the video’s title referring to the incident as a “demonic storm.” “It’s almost like being in a war zone.”
More storms are predicted for Monday afternoon, according to the service. The storms are forecast to extend into the evening.
“Strong to severe storms possible with gusty winds & locally heavy downpours,” the service said on Twitter.
[Monday] Similar setup today as the past few days. Widely scattered showers & storms developing this afternoon continuing into the evening. Strong to severe storms possible with gusty winds & locally heavy downpours. #mawx #ctwx #riwx pic.twitter.com/BRZyJ0uNo0
— NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) August 24, 2020
Cindy Fitzgibbon, a meteorologist with WCVB, said on Twitter that the storms aren’t thought to be “as widespread as yesterday’s storms.”
MONDAY FORECAST…
Clouds burn off to sunshine with another warm humid day on the way. Sct’d t-storms will be popping up once again 2-7pm … coverage not expected to be as widespread as yesterday’s storms #WCVB pic.twitter.com/U4gxi1D3bQ— Cindy Fitzgibbon (@Met_CindyFitz) August 24, 2020
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