On Saturday, clean-up continued in many communities across Connecticut after a powerful storm sent trees into homes and knocked out power, Friday night.
Newington was one of the hardest hit towns, particularly on the north side of town. People woke up to the sound of chain saws as crews worked to remove debris from Francis Avenue and Main Street.
"You couldn't even see the street. It was all tree,” said resident Peggy Fastiggi.
The summer thunderstorm packed a punch. Wind gusts reached 40 miles per hour, toppling telephone poles, crushing cars and snapping power lines. Jeff Zajack said his neighbor's new porch was destroyed in the storm.
[HAR] Newington Storm Damage
"I've always had a fear of that happening to us and so to see it happen to a neighbor and a friend, it hurts,” said Zajack tearing up. “I feel for them, actually. I really do.”
Emotions ran high as neighbors surveyed the damage on very little sleep.
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"It's time to help Kim. Kim's the one who helps everyone around here and she's gonna need some help. I'm there if she needs it,” said Michael Guerrera whose neighbor Kimberly Holtz was woken up when three trees fell in her yard around 10:30 Friday night.
Two of those trees fell on her house on Sunnyside Road. A hickory tree in the neighbor’s yard behind her on Main Street fell first, knocking an oak and pine tree over and onto her roof.
"A lot of damage in my garage. There's branches that are impaled in the roof. I have a lot of house damage,” described Holt.
A few blocks away on Brookside Road, Mark Shoemaker dealt with a caved-in roof and collapsed chimney after two big tree branches broke off in the storm.
"It was awful wind and then this very sudden crash with the house shaking,” said Shoemaker. "There's big cracks in the ceilings and the walls where the walls are trying to separate from the house."
On Mountainview Drive, a huge tree straddled the roadway. Neighbors say the city estimated the tree had stood for upwards of 300 years. They say it had weathered winter and summer storms, but Friday night's winds were too much.
"It was crazy because we've lived in this neighborhood for 20 years and that tree has always been here. It's faced some of the hurricanes that came through a few years ago, and it's never come down and I just thought wow that's crazy," said Evan Field.
Hundreds of homes were also left in the dark as a result of the downed wires. With another hot day predicted, Eversource had crews trying to restore power before the sun came up and the mercury rose.
