Chatham Residents Grapple With Toppled Trees, Power Outages
CHATHAM (CBS) — The sounds of a summer night on the Cape were replaced with chainsaws and generators on Tuesday. Hours earlier, it was the powerful storm making noise moving through Chatham.
"It was howling, reminded me of Nebraska where we're from," said homeowner Ken Stoll.
Eight trees uprooted by the storm blocked Stoll's driveway. He just recently moved to Chatham from Nebraska.
After moving out of "Tornado Alley," Stoll never expected to see tornadoes here on the Cape.
"I was waiting for a nor'easter," he said.
The National Weather Service says a tornado touched down in Yarmouth and then touched down again in Harwich. The maximum wind speed for the tornado was 110 mph, which equates to a strong EF1 tornado.
A toppled tree gives you an idea of just how powerful the winds were — pulling deep roots out of the ground, with the fallen tree missing a nearby home by about five feet.
The Chatham Police Department has instructed residents to stay off the roads during the cleanup.
Chatham resident Jason Custodie says this kind of weather is unexpected for the Cape.
"You only see this out in other areas South and Midwest," Custodie said.
When he heard the storm was coming, Custodie quickly went into his basement to stay safe.
"I'm OK, yeah everything's good," he said. "House is good and that's the most important thing."
Toppled trees separate tourists from downtown Chatham, where most businesses are closed because of power outages.
More than 50,000 customers lost power on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
This time of year, restaurants and stores would typically be packed with vacationers.
"Any night in the summer is a busy one, but this is completely different," said Tom Deegan of Mom and Pops Burgers.
The restaurant on Route 28 is one the only places open, thanks to a generator and food truck.
"There is some real damage here I don't know how long it's going to take for things to get back to normal," Deegan said. "But you know, if we can provide a service for people you know that's a good thing."
