High winds on Monday night damaged the salt shed at the Wilton Highway Department, sending the building leaning and ultimately requiring it be taken down.
Wilton Police Lt. John Frechette said the police responded to several instances of trees down on wires Monday night into Tuesday, as a windstorm blew through the area. Trees came down on Isaac Frye Highway at Burton Highway, as well as on Barrett Hill Road, taking down wires.
“It was mostly in the north end of town,” Frechette said.
There was also damage to the town’s highway department on Whiting Hill Road.
“The salt barn up at the highway shed was blown sideways,” Frechette said. “It’s an older structure, and I’m sure the salt had eroded the support structure, and it was blown akimbo, making it unstable.”
The shed has been deconstructed, and the salt covered temporarily until the town can address the issue, Frechette said.
Stasia Millett of Abbot Hill Acres said she and her husband, Joe Broyles, were watching television on Monday night when they heard the wind roaring.
“We realized, ‘What is that continuous loud noise going on?’” Millett said. “We thought it was a car or a truck going up the road, and then realized it was the wind, and a heck of a wind.”
When the two went to look outside, Millett said the door nearly ripped from their hands, the wind was blowing so strongly, and they immediately saw that the wind had taken down the top of a large pine tree, sending it crashing into the center of a stone meditation spiral the couple had installed on their property.
The spiral, which Millett and Broyles have always invited the public to use as a meditation aid, was originally built by members of the local pagan community, using smooth river rocks which have since been covered with moss.
“It’s a really charming, soft, quiet, place,” Millett said. The spiral had a granite stone bench at the center, which the pine landed on and broke into several pieces.
In the morning, Millett said they found several that other trees which were not previously diseased, weakened or cracked had broken off because of the wind, as well.
Millett said she and Broyles both have health issues which make it difficult for them to clean the mess on their property, but said multiple friends and neighbors have volunteered to assist them in cutting and removing the downed trees this weekend.
In Rindge, Police Chief Rachel Malynowski said there were several road closures due to downed trees and wires Monday night, and that on Tuesday morning. at least one home received roof damage due to the high winds.
At about 9:40 p.m. Monday, a tree and wires were reported down on Robbins Road at Thomas Road, causing a road closure for an extended period of time, but it was only the first report of the night.
A tree came down on Cathedral Road, reported to police at about 9:47 p.m., which caused a road closure until the police and fire departments were able to remove the tree with chain saws.
Shortly after, at 10:07 p.m., a tree came down on multiple wires on Abel Road, which left the road closed for several hours until Eversource could respond.
On Tuesday morning, as residents awoke, police had to close two more roads for cleanup – Old New Ipswich Road, where police and fire officers responded to remove a tree across the road, and East Monomonac Road for a tree that had come down on wires, compromising the wires but not bringing them down to the ground.
East Monomonac Road was partially closed until Eversource was able to respond to evaluate the wires.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.