UPDATED: Toppled Trees Takes Down Poles

Susan Blonder had just come inside the house from her car parked on Barnstable Street Saturday afternoon when she heard the crack.

Then her power went out. She looked out her front window and saw a downed hardwood from across the street at 36 Barnstable. It extended into her front yard, caving in a section of her retaining wall. 

On its way down the tree snagged utility lines, forcing several utility poles to the ground.

Two and a half hours earlier, on the other side of town, a 40- to 50-foot maple toppled at 11 Eulow St.

A similar scenario played out. Only this time the tree landed on a house.

The occupants were inside but unharmed,  Capt. Kevin Thompson said.

Firefighters escorted the family from their home and the residents stayed with neighbors while National Grid workers cleared the downed utility wires and tree service workers cut the tree, the fire captain said.

Howling winds knocked down both trees.

Susan Blonder's electricity was out until Sunday. As of Monday mid-day she was waiting for the cable company to restore her Internet and cable television connection.

of Swampscott was busy into Monday.

In the morning they chipped and hauled away the fallen Barnstable tree and swept the grounds clean.

Then they moved to 11 Eulow.

Late Monday morning they had sections of the Eulow maple piled in the front lawn, were loading brush into a chipper, and were raking the yard.

Hap Keating said the working conditions are far better this winter.

Last year the crew would have been wading through snow and dragging branches.

On Monday birds were singing and the temperatures were edging toward 50 degrees.

Just up the street National Grid workers were working from buckets high off the ground, repairing and rewiring utility lines.

The fire captain said most of Saturday was windy.

One resident who lives near Phillips Park said the batting cage had been blown across the field.

A meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton said winds reached as high as 60 miles per hour on the Cape and in higher elevations but he was unaware of winds that high in Swampscott.