Storm Ravages Forests in Area

Forester John McClain surveys destruction Tuesday from a storm last Wednesday that devastated forests in the boundary area between Chelsea and East Brookfield. McClain estimates that three of his clients lost more than 150 acres of trees to the storm. (Herald / Bob Eddy)

A storm ravaged Orange County last Wednesday, coming down especially violently along the Brookfield-Chelsea border on East Hill.

Despite the hard work of Washington Electric, area fire departments, and a host of friends and neighbors, the toll is still heavy. Piles of uprooted trees and severed limbs thickly line both sides of the Chelsea Road. Trunks stand gauntly without their branches; once-serene forests are decimated and patchy.

Pine trees, in a swatch a half mile long and a half mile wide, were nearly all snapped midway up the trunk, leaving what appeared to be a field of pointed posts along the road.

Though there were rumors of a tornado and funnel-like winds were observed, the National Weather Service announced that the storm was caused by straight-line thunderstorm winds that reached up to 90 miles per hour

Yet a full response arrived even before the storm and rain had fully subsided.

“The Brookfield Fire Department were all up there in the pouring rain with their chainsaws. They restored calm to the scene,” commented Tim Schroeder, a resident of Woods Road. “They deserve kudos.”

“I had neighbors coming by to check on my llamas and secure them in the barn.” Shroeder added. “It was people helping people.”

CVPS estimated that at the peak, 12,500 customers, 3100 in Orange and Windsor companies were without power. Washington Electric had around 2000 local outages. Despite the widespread damage, the houses that were hit the hardest still got their power back by mid-afternoon on Saturday. But because phone lines have not been fully repaired, few residents could be reached for comment.

Along the Brookfield-Chelsea border, 15 utility poles and thousands of feet of line were down, noted Avram Patt, the general manager of Washington Electric Coop. “We had to redo pretty much all of it. We moved the power line by the side of the road so it’ll be easier to maintain.”

The Brookfield Fire Department responded to two calls: East Hill and some trees down on Route 14.

“We methodically cleared the tangle to trees and wires. It was a community effort, there were a lot of people helping out,” said Ed Koren, a member of the Brookfield Fire Department for the past 22 years.

Schroeder tells the story of just that. When four couples he knows from his motorcycle-riding vacations heard about the storm, the group showed up to help clear the mess that was Schroeder’s yard.

“They all brought chainsaws, gloves, rakes, and a potluck dinner, Schroeder said. “It was a huge mess but we got it all cleared up.”

“Nobody in the department has seen anything like this,” Koren said.

Now, less than a week later, roads are open, power has been restored, and other than some spectacular demolition of the forests, life is pretty much back to normal. True to principle, many hands and strong community ties make light work.

“We didn’t have complaints from the people that were affected,” Patt said. “They saw all the work we had to do. We’re grateful for their patience.”