Last night as Helaine and I were driving home we noticed Shepard Avenue in Hamden closed–blocked by a pair of well worn sawhorses. They were still up as I drove today. I thought that might be the case so I brought “Clicky” to document what was going on.
A large, old, formerly stately oak was splayed across the street. The root ball popped from the ground as if it was a bad tooth being pulled. The leafy end was caught in the power, phone and cable lines.
It was a mess.
The house across the street had no power, phone, cable or exit! The tree was blocking its driveway.
The tree’s owner (now the owner of a lifetime’s supply of firewood), a Connecticut State Policeman, was out in the street watching as a man with a chainsaw delicately walked on a limb the size of his waist.
“It fell around 7:00 o’clock yesterday morning,” he told me. No one had visited from the phone, power or cable company. He was taking matters in his own hand. Could you blame him?
This scene was being repeated in dozens of locations across the state.
The tree missed his house. He was lucky.
AND….he is smiling!! What a good attitude. Good Luck!
Yes! You want a guy who carries a gun for a living to be able to handle a little adversity without getting bent out-of-shape.
LOL Yes I Do !!!
Went down Shepard myself today. Saw the same tree if it is the one right after Todd St. Sadly, it seems to be the sight all around Hamden. And honestly, even Mayor Jackson claimed to have visited areas that had been affected by Irene. I myself, had been without power since Sunday morning at 6am along with all the surrounding neighborhoods in southern Hamden. He never once came near my street. Such a shame. But, I will tell you Geoff. The wonderful UI workers were working hard and are totally under appreciated. They even came running today after they restored our power and saw the smoke coming out of my neighbors chimney. We had called 911 (the neighbors weren’t home) and were looking at the house concerned. They came running to make sure everything was okay and to tell us they thought it might be from the power being restored that their furnace might have kicked on. They were right. But they stood with us until the fire department got their. Please give them a shout out Geoff. They are working really hard and are away from their families so our families can have our power back.
I grew up in that house on the corner of Todd St. and Shepard Ave. with the downed tree. Looking at your pictures, I would have never have guessed that it was my old house or the busy two-laned road called Shepard Avenue. The only clue given to me was the stately colonial that I grew up in on the corner.
This was a bad storm, in the sense of tree damage and power outages. Here in WEST HAVEN, the old post office on campbell ave just missed being flattened by an old oak tree in its back parking lot. It’s so sad to see all the old trees disappearing AND, in VERMONT, all the covered bridges being swept away by flood waters. Thank GOD, there was little loss of life!
This is a testament to people like Geoff getting the word out. Informing the public, and allowing them time to be ready.