WESTHAMPTON — Strong winds felled trees late Wednesday night into Thursday, knocking out power for some county residents, and making for a long, sleepless night for others.
Westhampton firefighter David Antosz had been out late responding to calls of felled trees. After returning home and going to bed, he and his wife, Audrey, woke up to a loud crash and felt their home shake around 3:30 a.m. A large pine tree had come down on part of their Stage Road house.
“There was a lot of wind and then the house shook and there was a rumble, then a thud kind of sound,” he said. “It could have been much worse than it was.”
After checking on their children, the Antoszes called their insurance company, then friends and family who had the equipment necessary to move the tree, cut it up, and cover the roof before the rain and snow expected on Friday.
“It’s great we had so many people offer to help,” Antosz said. “This is a great community.”
Nobody was hurt, but tree limbs did break a window and puncture the roof.
“It’s just part of nature, I guess,” Antosz said. “If you live where there are trees you run that risk of something falling.”
Overnight, Northampton Police received calls for 12 downed trees with two reports on Kennedy Road. Between 2:20 and 6:10 a.m., police received eight individual calls for felled trees, according to police logs.
According to Hadley Police, a tree fell on Middle Street, taking down power lines around 3 a.m. Police closed the road, and it remained closed as of 8:30 a.m. According to Eversource, 63 customers were without power in Hadley.
“For now the winds have subsided; they will subside throughout day,” said Eversource spokesman Frank Poirot. “Ninety-nine percent of customers should receive their power back by 6 p.m.”
As of 10 a.m. Thursday, 45 National Grid customers were without power in Hampshire County, according to the utility’s website. Eversource reported 921 customers without power in western Massachusetts as of 10 a.m., with 187 of them in Chesterfield.
Northampton Police received a notification from National Grid early Thursday morning of power outages on Bridge Road, Chestnut Street, Rick Drive and Mountain Street, according to officer Douglas Dobson. In Westhampton, Montague Road was closed Thursday morning due to a tree and power lines down, according to officer Matt Malo.
Sarah Robertson can be reached at srobertson@gazettenet.com.