Homeowners in Harwinton, Burlington, and other parts of northwest Connecticut are cleaning up hundreds of trees that may have been knocked down by a tornado.
The powerful line of storms worked their way to the northeast Friday afternoon spawing thunderstorm warnings followed by a tornado warning.
The Robillard family of Harwinton had a close call when one of those falling trees landed on their Swimming Hole Road house.
“Everyone’s safe, just a little shook up.” Heather Robillard tried to put on a brave face for her children while looking at the damage caused by the tree. “We lost power, we heard a crash, and actually before we got out the neighbors had told us that a tree had fallen on our house,” she said.
Along with trees, the storm brought down power lines, knocking out power to thousands. Mitch Gross from Connecticut Light and Power says that there were 17,000 customers without power at 6:30 p.m., and that they were working to fix the lines as quickly as possible.
Harwinton Deputy Fire Chief Bill Rinko says that drivers need to be extra careful as long as roads remain closed. “The problem is we can’t baby-sit all the wires all night, so I would advise people if they see road closed signs, take it seriously," said Rinko.
For a look at the the weekend forecast, and the latest track on Hurricane Bill click here.
