The storm that hit Newtown on May 15, 2018 was not a tornado, but powerful winds just over the Housatonic River left behind a path of destruction and some homes remain empty a year later.
John Nuhoff, of Newtown, waited out the storm in his home and found destruction when it was over, but he said it was a miracle that his house was not destroyed.
“We walked from our house to the back and there were hundreds of trees down,” he said. “It was just unbelievable.”
Five oak trees came down on Dave Sciaudone’s Newtown home and he said he’s thankful no one was hurt. He was one of the residents to decide to rebuild.
“I had nothing left, but I didn’t have much to begin with. But everything in the house was gone. It was pretty bad. But we made it through. Thank God nobody got hurt. I mean a lot of people lost a lot of things, but things can be replaced,” he said.
Power was out for days after the storm. It took weeks to clear trees and it took months to restore homes, but the Lakeview section of Newtown is starting to look like home again.
Twelve homes in the Newtown neighborhood had to be condemned and some residents chose to rebuild, but several others remain empty.
