Date: Fri 05-Jun-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

weather-basements-tornado

Full Text:

Fierce Storm Drives Many To The Basement

BY STEVE BIGHAM

Not everyone is willing to admit it, but a lot of people huddled in their

basements Sunday night seeking shelter from the impending tornado.

For the majority of people who braved the elements, they guessed right. The

tornadoes never came. Others said they had no idea that the National Weather

Service had issued a tornado warning for the Danbury area.

When asked Monday morning if he had retreated to his basement, First Selectman

Herb Rosenthal replied, "For what?"

Al Goodrich said he didn't even know about an impending tornado and slept

right through the storm.

Down at the Senior Center on Riverside Road, there was plenty of talk about

the storm, but only three of 17 seniors said they actually sought the shelter

of their basement.

"One woman said she and her husband went to the basement, but they got tired

of being down there so they came back up," explained Gerry Hughes, Senior

Center receptionist.

Carol Mayhew saw more of the storm than she would have liked, having to drive

in it to reach the town's dispatch center. On two occasions, she nearly lost

control of her vehicle on Toddy Hill Road.

"People have said, and I have said, that this was the scariest storm we've had

in a long time," she noted. "The lightning just didn't look normal."

Sandy Hook School executive secretary Joanne Didonato talked to numerous

people who said they went to their basement for shelter. Most of them talked

about how boring it was, she said. A lot of them were tired after spending so

many hours in the basement.

"I watched the tornado of 1962 hit Waterbury. I saw it go by my window, so I

know how devastating they can be," said Mrs Didonato, who had trouble dragging

her kids out of bed in order to get them to a safer area of the house.

Liana D'Amico of Dayton Street was at home when she suddenly heard her

landlords, Claudia and Peter Nielsen, call for everyone to get in the

basement. So down they went, Liana, Claudia, Peter, Sherry the dog and, of

course, the Nielsen's beloved guinea pig.

Pat Anzellotti said she went down in her basement and ended up staying there

all night.

"I fell asleep on the couch," she said.

Berryl Harrison used to live in Ohio where twisters are common occurrences. On

Sunday, when the hail started, she and her husband decided to head to the

basement. When they opened the door, two dogs instinctively ran to the

basement while a third dog cowered behind a furnace and refused to come out

until late into the night.

Another Newtown resident heard of the tornado threat and quickly went to wake

up his wife. Reluctantly, she joined her husband in the basement where she

quickly fell back to sleep on the hard cement. Twenty minutes later, she awoke

with sore hips from lying on the floor. Her ears were ringing from all the

static (created by the storm) coming from a nearby radio. But there was no

sign of her husband. He had gone back upstairs to watch the end of the

Bulls-Pacers game.

Looking back, it looks as if those who either went to bed early or did not

watch television ended up saving themselves a lot of aggravation. For the rest

of us, Sunday night gave us a chance to spend some quality time in the

basement.