Lincoln Lane was closed Sunday morning — a large tree branch struck a transformer, visible in the distance. — Thomas Nash photo
The first surprise snowstorm of April wasn’t so bad Sunday morning, April 3, but the windstorm that came with it wreaked havoc in Ridgefield.
More than 233 customers of Eversource lost power at the peak of the storm Sunday morning, said Dick Aarons, the town’s deputy emergency management director.
Firefighters had to respond to numerous fallen power lines, some of which were burning, said fire Chief Kevin Tappe.
Several roads in town were blocked as a result of the fallen tree branches and power lines.
“There wasn’t much snow, but it was the wind, with gusts up to 60 mph,” Tappe said.
Oscaleta Road had a power line down and was blocked from 7:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. A power line down blocked Lincoln Lane from 10:10 a.m. to 10:20 a.m.
George Washington Highway was blocked from 9:07 a.m. to noon.
“There were a bunch of other calls for sparking wires, low-hanging wires that did not block a road,” Tappe said.
Eversource crews were on the scene quickly, Tappe said. The communication between Eversource and the town was excellent, Aarons said.
“The good thing about Eversource is they were in constant contact with us,” Aarons said.
The windstorm started before sunrise on Sunday and peaked between 10 a.m. and noon, Tappe said.
“We’d have periods of calm, and then we’d get hit with sharp gusts. Then it would be calm again,” Tappe said.
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