Trees snapped and some were completely uprooted. That’s what you’ll find in the area of Warren and Willow streets in Cheshire.
Debris lies as evidence of how powerful Saturday’s tornado was.
Witnesses say the EF-0 tornado swept through this neighborhood with fierce intensity.
“It was a big noise. It was quick, but it was awful,” said Luz Castano.
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Castano is an in-home caretaker who needed to think quickly Saturday. She moved her elderly resident, Fred Coughlin, away from sliding glass doors, just as the tornado approached.
“Thank God, I moved him from that chair because we moved five minutes before the storm came,” she said.
Coughlin needs assistance walking, so as the sky darkened, Castano instinctively moved him to an interior room. Minutes later, a tree crashed onto the home’s deck, severely damaging the structure, only feet away.
“It happened quick,” Coughlin said. “I didn’t really see anything until the aftermath. When I came out here, I saw the deck and I said, 'wow!'”
The National Weather Service says the EF-0 tornado started on a narrow path near Mountain Road. It widened to about 100 yards, tearing apart over a dozen trees at the Legion of Christ College of Humanities.
Intense winds also damaged Cheshire High School’s athletic scoreboard. Officials say the damage will exceed the school’s $10,000 deductible.
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“It’s not easy to replace but the circumstances of timing and with people not being injured, we will take it,” said Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Solan.
Lisa Moran lives on Willow Street. On Monday, she and her family were busy cleaning up after multiple trees on her property were snapped in half.
After getting a professional cleanup quote for over $4,000, they decided to try clearing the property themselves.
“So, I said I think we can get that down a little bit more if we just get some of this together ourselves," said Moran.
The Moran family says they are thankful no one was hurt and are trying to find a silver lining. They are donating the pine trimmings to a local non-profit that will create holiday decorations for their building.
