Powerful storms bring trees and limbs down, causing numerous power outages and closures

EAST GRANBY, CT. (WFSB) - The winds were so powerful Friday that it rocked communities in northern Connecticut.

Trees and power lines got knocked down with police closing many roads.

Some of it was horrifying.

On Hartford Avenue in East Granby, driving was difficult with roads closed and trees down.

At 2:30 p.m., a tree fell on a house, causing catastrophic damage.

Firefighters say a man was inside the house when it happened. He had to climb outside his back door in order to escape.

Luckily, no one was hurt.

Nicholas Grosse was stunned as in just a few seconds, his home was flattened by an oak tree.

“Thanks again you’ve been a life saver,” he said when referring to his neighbors and the Red Cross.

Thanks to them, he will be heading to a hotel in a Subaru lent to him by Mike Malloy, owner of East Granby Motors.

Grosse’s car was pierced when the massive tree crashed down.

“I look out the window and his roof is gone, I’m like he’s usually home,” said Malloy. “We started yelling hello nick hello hello, he could hear us, but he had gone to the cellar and he ended up crawling out the back door, that’s how he got out, half the house is crushed.”

He is heartbroken for Nick. Fortunately, his wife wasn’t home at the time.

“I’m just glad he was alive you know could’ve been very bad,” he continued.

Grosse has a GoFundMe asking for the public’s to help repair the damages.

Communities such as Granby, East Windsor, and Simsbury were also heavily impacted by the storms.

At Simsbury Airport, a plane was sent spiraling after heavy winds lifted it up off the ground.

The winds were so intense and cruel that an aircraft along with a hanger were damaged.

“In a matter 10-15 seconds it went from sunny to chaos,” said Brad Griswold, the airport manager.

Eversource reported that more than 10,000 customers were affected at one point, the vast majority in the northern part of the state. Thousands still sit without power.

Fortunately, there have been no reports of injuries thus far.

Crews were out working hard, trying to clean it all up and restore power.