Weather

Stories of damage accumulate in wake of Monday’s storm

At least three people died across New England during Monday's storm, which also destroyed many homes, cars, and businesses.

A tree fell on a home in Lynnfield, destroying a bedroom and three cars. Jessica Rinaldi/Boston Globe

By Ross Cristantiello

A day after a tropical-like storm lashed New England with heavy downpours and powerful winds, stories of destruction left in its wake are starting to emerge. 

Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico brought conditions similar to a summer storm to the Northeast a week before Christmas. Some parts of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts saw almost 5 inches of rain, with communities across the region reporting anywhere between 1 and 4 inches. The storm, which moved quickly, brought almost “a month’s worth of rain” to some places, according to local meteorologist David Epstein. 

Waves as large as 38 feet—one foot higher than the Green Monster— were reported off the coast of Nantucket, according to the National Weather Service. Although the rain abated Monday evening, many parts of New England were still at significant risk of flooding Tuesday morning. Rhode Island was particularly in danger, and major flooding was reported on the Pawtuxet River in Cranston. Multiple businesses needed to pump water from their basements in Montpelier, but damage was minimal in the Vermont city that was subjected to historic flooding over the summer. 

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Near Sunday River ski resort in Maine, the Androscoggin River swelled to extremely dangerous levels. 

Power outages were prominent. More than 580,000 customers in New England were without power Tuesday morning, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks data from multiple utilities across the country. Maine was the hardest-hit state, with more than 420,000 customers losing power. More than 120,000 lost power in Massachusetts, mostly in Norfolk, Bristol, and Plymouth counties. 

But it is the broken trees, destroyed homes, and the human impact of the storm that is on the minds of many Tuesday. In Hanover, an 89-year-old man died when a large tree fell on a “small travel trailer” that he was inside. 

Two people died in Maine. A Windham man was struck by a piece of broken tree while he attempted to clear debris from his roof, WTMW reported. And a man in Fairfield died while trying to use a tractor to clear a tree trunk from blocking his driveway. 

In Newton, a driver told Boston 25 News that her car went up in flames when a telephone pole, live wires, and a transformer fell on it. She equated it to a bomb going off, and barely escaped with minor injuries. 

A falling tree ripped off a chunk of a Lynnfield family’s home, crashing through a bedroom and totaling three cars, WBZ reported. Luckily, no one was injured. 

Another tree fell onto an occupied pickup truck in Holbrook, police said. The tree, estimated to be about two to three feet in diameter, trapped the driver inside. Firefighters used hydraulic rescue tools to free him during the storm. 

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A mother and two children were traveling in a car near Wales Street in Dorchester Monday morning when a tree fell on the moving vehicle, WCVB reported. The woman was taken to a hospital, while the children were uninjured. 

A similar incident happened in Cohasset, when a large branch fell onto a moving car on Route 3A, police said. A mother and her infant child were brought to a hospital with minor injuries. 

Part of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s Tower building was damaged by the extreme weather, causing debris to fall onto Evans Way, school officials said. No one was injured.  

Heavy winds tore off the roof of a car wash in Salem, New Hampshire. A witness told WHDH that it looked like a can of sardines being opened, but no one was injured.