SUNDERLAND — Doug Pion said he was sitting in his living room when a tree fell and crashed into his Sunderland home.
“It sounded like a loud crack, and then a rush,” Pion said, comparing the sound to a train. “I knew exactly what it was.”
The large tree, which according to Pion is owned by the town, cracked and fell at about 9:30 a.m. Sunday as a storm was moving out of the area. It also fell on and crushed three cars in Pion’s driveway and damaged walls on the house as well as his front porch.
“This has been quite the tourist attraction today,” Pion joked. “Nothing happens in Sunderland. Occasionally, a cow goes missing.”
The tree was one of several that fell after a line of storms swept through the region, packing wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
Route 9 in Northampton and Williamsburg was closed at different times, and downed wires caused power failures for some.
A tree fell across Route 9 in Northampton between Haydenville Road and East Center Street around 8:45 a.m., bringing down power lines and closing the road, police said. The scene was cleared by 11:35 a.m., police said.
At the same time, a large tree branch knocked down cable and phone lines on Fairview Avenue in Northampton. And a downed tree was removed from the roadway at 25 Woodlawn Ave. in Northampton at 10:09 a.m.
Southampton police referred to the storm as “a microburst or some type of tornadic event,” according to their Facebook page. They reported power outages in the Gilbert Road area just before 9 a.m. due to downed trees and wires.
Fallen trees on wires also caused power issues in the Rattle Hill Road and Glendale Road area, Southampton police said.
Another section of Route 9, just past Pat’s Package Store, was also closed during the morning due to a tree across the road, Williamsburg police said. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation and National Grid assisted on scene and the road was re-opened at 11 a.m., according to the police department’s Facebook page.
Within a one-hour timeframe, Hadley police received eight roadway hazard calls because of downed trees. Officer John Robitaille said the first call came in at 8:51 a.m. and they continued through 10 a.m.
In the area near North Hadley Sugar Shack, a fallen tree limb blocked one lane on River Drive.
A blown transformer on Roosevelt Street just north of Stockbridge Road caused power outages for area Eversource customers. Power was restored to that region sometime before 3 p.m., said Robitaille.
Wires and trees were down near the dead end of Stockbridge Road, facing Route 116.
Fallen trees blocked the roadway at Moody Bridge Road and South Maple Street, and elsewhere on Moody Bridge Road. Roadways near 117 Middle St. and 41 Mountain Road were also blocked by downed trees.
Hatfield and Amherst police departments received similar calls for downed trees, as well.
A section of Stillwater Road in Deerfield was closed because wires were down in the area for about three hours, according to the Deerfield Police Department Facebook page.
The storm also delayed the Sunday opening of the Franklin County Fair. The fair’s final day of events, which were supposed to begin at 8 a.m, were delayed by about two hours, according to the fair’s website.
As of 6 p.m. Sunday, 16 Eversource customers were without power in Southampton, Easthampton and Hadley. In South Amherst and Belchertown, 10 National Grid customers remained without power.
Accompanying the storm was a cold front that moved through the area, said meteorologist William Babcock, of the National Weather Service in Taunton.
“Before, the air was really hot and sticky,” he said. “Once the storm rolled through, winds shifted out of the northwest and humidity has dropped substantially.”
The weather should stay fairly dry for the next day or so, according to Babcock.