Storm brings trees down onto homes in the Hartford area

SOUTH WINDSOR, CT (WFSB) - Large trees came down onto homes around the state during the storm on Friday.

In South Windsor, the report came in on Berle Road.

No one was hurt.

However, a hole in the roof was visible when a Channel 3 crew arrived at the scene.

In Manchester, homeowner David White told Eyewitness News that it was an 100 foot Oak that damaged his home on White Street around 5:45 a.m.

White celebrated his birthday yesterday, went to bed, and woke up hearing what he thought was an explosion.

“I was just getting up and ready to go to work watching the morning news. All of a sudden, it sounded like an explosion went off,” White explained. “The dogs jumped up. My sister jumped up. Sure enough when we looked out the window, we saw the tree.”

A lot of credit went to White’s neighbor, Jime Deere.

Deere was awake and heard the tree fall onto the house.

“Just heard this horrific sound like a tractor trailer was driving in between the houses at 100 miles per hour just crushing everything,” Deere said.

Deere, a retired firefighter, quickly called 911 and ran over to make sure everyone was okay.

“You gotta go over and check to make sure nobody’s hurt so we went over and they were fine. Blew the door right off the back of the house,” said Deere.

The police and fire departments responded.

White said that no one was hurt, but rain was coming into his home.

In Hartford, emergency crews have gotten back to back calls.

The holiday weekend kicked off with a bang, but not the kind Sylvia Brown was hoping for.

“I was putting on my slippers and I hear boom. So I thought it was this tree. I looked around, I couldn’t find where it came from. Until I opened my blind and I saw it was that tree,” said Sylvia.

Luckily she was on the back side of the house and she wasn’t injured.

Crews also checked on her home to make sure it was safe and now she’s waiting for a tarp.

“I don’t even know where to start. I called the insurance company and they will come out tonight,” Sylvia said.

Overall, it was a very busy day for Hartford crews.

Before noon they had over 25 calls, including one on Columbus Boulevard.

“Trees on wires. We have involved Eversource quite a few times on a few calls because we can’t handle those, but everyone has been great. Our streets team has been out, the pay loaders have been grabbing stuff they can without our tree trimmers involved so they can focus on the bigger stuff,” said Heather Dionne, City Forester.

The city forester blames the recent droughts that made the trees weaker.

Now, the wait is on for more wind and icy conditions.

“Hopefully it will be enough buffer to keep things melted per se without freezing up and causing hazardous conditions,” said Heather.

There are several warming centers opening up if you need special assistance tonight.

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