Nor’easter causes plenty of headaches

Published in the March 9, 2018 edition

MELROSE — A lot of tree and property damage was reported during the nor’easter that blew through the city on Friday, March 2.

A motorist on Glen Road reported being stuck in a motor vehicle because a tree fell on it around 2:35 p.m.

Just a couple minutes earlier, at 2:17 p.m., a tree was reported down on top of an Upham Street home.

Our area saw wind gusts over 60 miles an hour and sustained winds of around 45 miles an hour on March 2. The strong winds lasted well into Saturday, March 3.

The first weather-related calls came in around 4 a.m. when a citizen on Cottage Street reported a loud popping noise followed by flashes of light. Police said they searched the area and found nothing.

A pole with a traffic light on it toppled over just before 6 a.m. at the corner of East Emerson and Main streets. The pole was removed from the street; police said the lights were still working.

A tree was reportedly down on Banks Place around 6:30 a.m.

Tree branches were said to be hanging on power lines at Myrtle and Herbert streets around 6:50 a.m.

At 7:45 a.m. a downed tree took a wire with hit on West Wyoming Avenue.

A tree on Marmion Road “broke in half” and was reportedly tangled up in power lines around 9:10 a.m.

Two poles were down on Derby Road around 10:05 a.m. National Grid and the Fire Department were contacted.

A Reading Hill Avenue resident told police around 11:50 a.m. that a fallen tree limb went through the roof of his house.

A tree was down on Conrad Road around 11:55 a.m.

A large tree limb was hanging over a neighbor’s house at 1:28 p.m. on Lynde Street.

Drivers were apparently running over a downed power line on Sylvan Street around 1:35 p.m.

Multiple calls were received by police for a tree down on Swains Pond Avenue around 1:40 p.m.

A wire down at the intersection of Waverly Avenue and Laurel Street just after 2 p.m. was found not to be a “hot” one by the Fire Department. A DPW crew was working on a tree in the area.

A tree was down on Lebanon Street around 2:35 p.m.

A cable wire was in the road at the Bellevue Avenue-Porter Street intersection just before 3 p.m. A tree was down on Waverly Avenue at the same time.

A tree limb and wires were down on Goss Avenue around 4 p.m. Branches were reportedly on wires on Harold Street around the same time.

Wires were down on Circuit Street at 4:04 p.m.

At 5:08 p.m. a railroad gate was reportedly broken off at the Highlands crossing on Franklin Street.

A tree was reported into a house on West Emerson Street at 5:44 p.m.

A tree was down on Upham Street at Wildwood Road at 5:47 p.m.

At 6:19 p.m. a tree was blocking Swains Pond Avenue.

A tree limb was down on Swains Pond Avenue at Maple Terrace around 6:25 p.m.

A tree was into a house on Batchelder Street around 6:50 p.m.

Part of a tree was reportedly on fire on Sewall Woods Road around 7:25 p.m.

A tree and wires were down on the Lynn Fells Parkway at Holland Road around 7:50 p.m. 

At 8:30 p.m. wires were down in the 200 block of Laurel Street.

Wires, a tree and a utility pole were reported down Highview Avenue at 8:32. Police stood by until National Grid crews arrived.

More wires were reported down on Sewall Woods Road around 8:40 p.m.

The calls for help tapered off drastically on Saturday, March 3.

At 2:20 a.m. a woman called to tell police a tree had fallen onto her car, which was parked in a Washington Street driveway.

A telephone pole was leaning around 8:30 a.m. on Highview Avenue. Police notified National Grid of the sitiuation.

At 9:54 a.m. a low hanging tree branch was reported on Washington Street. The DPW was notified.

A tree was down on Baxter Street at Conant Road around 10:20 a.m.

Tree branches were down on Woodcrest Drive just before noon. Police moved them to the side of the road and notified the DPW.

Wires got blown into a tree at the Bratley and Lebanon streets intersection around 3:15 p.m.