NEW LONDON -- At 9 o’clock Thursday morning, Dave DeNoia‘s heart skipped a beat.
“One of my employees gave me a call, who actually saw the event take place,” said DeNoia, who is New London’s Public Works Superintendent. “He was on the road going to a job and he saw the tree fall down in front of him.”
And, the century old tree fell right where the landscaping crew member was doing some trimming.
DeNoia agreed that the power lines helped slow the tree’s fall.
“Unfortunately, the gentleman suffered a broken leg, but he was very fortunate,” DeNoia said.
He also serves as the New London‘s Tree Warden and is not certain of the exact cause of the tree uprooting.
“No damage could be identified from the outside of the tree, like rot or anything, but, as the tree fell down, I took a look in the core. There was evidence of some decay.”
There were tree troubles throughout the city including at this residence on Williams Street, near the Coast Guard Academy where a group of trees fell in opposite directions. One did heavy damage to a third-floor dormer and deck on one house and next-door seemingly not much damage to that house.
Dave DeNoia says the combination of heavy wind, heavy rain and most of the trees still with full foliage can sometimes spell bad news.
In neighboring Groton Long Point, the angry ocean, aided by a westerly wind, flooded some residences as the water was pushed up over a boardwalk
“We probably had 2 feet maybe a little less than 2 feet,” said Jim Tremble, who’s basement and garage were flooded out
He has lived a long Groton Long Point west shore for 30 years. And, as with past storms, he’s expecting to have to replace crucial items in the basement following this Nor’easter.
He shook his head and said, “I’ve lost hot water heaters. I’ve lost refrigerators. I still haven’t found the one from Sandy. The one from Sandy is gone.”