Date: Fri 09-May-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Dickinson-park-storm-weather

Full Text:

Park Trees Fall Victim To Brief, Intense Storm

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

Several huge pine trees came crashing down onto the grounds of Dickinson Park

during Tuesday afternoon's brief, but intense thunderstorm.

Fallen trees littered the Elm Drive park late this week. Workers were expected

to begin disposing of the trees later this week. Trees also fell in the Head

O' Meadow Road/Shepard Hill Road section of town, indicating the storm took a

path through that area with wind gusts estimated at 50-60 mph.

The largest tree, located along the eastern shore of the stream, became

uprooted ripping up a huge section of ground. The tree landed on a section of

lawn/picnic area near the park's former snack bar.

Pine trees are notorious for their shallow roots, but according to Joe Tani,

the town's highway department director, the tree's roots had become saturated

being so close to the brook.

"It was bound to happen," said Mr Tani. "When you get 50-60 mph gusts, it'll

take down trees like that," he said.

Peter Horvath, a driver for Rural Gas Co. in Trumbull, found himself in an

unexpected situation Tuesday when trees at different locations on Head O'

Meadow Road trapped him in his truck near the intersection of Shepard Hill

Road. Driving northeast on Head O' Meadow Road, Mr Horvath said a tree was

blown down "right in front of me" just as he passed Shepard Hill Road.

When he tried to back up to Shepard Hill to turn around, another tree, about

20 feet down Head O' Meadow, was also blown over, bringing with it power and

telephone lines and effectively trapping Mr Horvath's truck between the two

downed trees.

John Mastro, a crew supervisor with CL&P, was one of the first to arrive on

Head O' Meadow Road in Newtown Tuesday afternoon, after a thunderstorm blew

through town. A crew was en route to clear the trees out of the way, and Mr

Mastro was surveying the damage while waiting for his crew to arrive.

"We try to [trim] all the problem trees," Mr Mastro said, "but sometimes some

of them surprise you."

His initial estimate was that he and his crew had about three hours of work to

do in clearing the trees, but a possible problem with one of the transformers

could add time to that estimate. Mr Mastro said he was waiting for the tree to

be cleared away from the transformer before making a judgment on any possible

damage.

(Shannon Hicks contributed to this story.)