Canton hit hard by Tropical Storm Irene

A downed tree limb in front of Canton High School on Washington Street (Blanka Stratford photo)

Tropical Storm Irene hit Canton hard Sunday morning, knocking out power to 18 percent of Canton homes and causing at least one minor injury as well as a few instances of significant damage from fallen trees and limbs. Several major roads were blocked on Sunday and Monday as town workers removed fallen trees and utility poles.

Fire Chief Charlie Doody reported that a 67-year-old man on Russell Street was knocked to the ground by a falling tree that crashed through the roof of his home. The man was transported to Milton Hospital where he was treated for minor injuries. No other injuries were reported to the Fire Department.

Building Inspector Ed Walsh said he had nine reported cases of trees falling into homes. Two homes had significant damage, but none of the families were forced to evacuate.

As of Monday afternoon, some 50 to 75 homes still had no power. All the major streets had been cleared; however, some side streets — including Greenwood and Country Club roads, Cross Street and Pleasant Circle — still had limited or no vehicle access.

Canton High School and the Kennedy School were without power as of Monday afternoon. The police station had to rely on a generator after losing power Sunday morning. In all, 1,855 residences lost power for a time as a result of the storm.

Chief Doody and DPW superintendent Mike Trotta both agreed that the town employees worked as hard as possible to get the streets open but were delayed by NSTAR, which first had to come out to remove or replace its utility poles.

“The town was ready,” Doody said. “The NSTAR response was inadequate.”

Doody said the town was prepared to use Canton High as an emergency shelter, but the need never arose. Frank LaBollita of the Local Emergency Planning Committee, former fire chief James Fitzpatrick and retired NSTAR official John Connolly communicated with state emergency officials on the town’s response to the storm.

The town also sent out three reverse 911 emergency calls — one on Friday afternoon to alert residents of the coming storm, the second on Sunday afternoon asking residents to remain off the roads, and the third on Monday morning informing residents of road closings.

Still, town workers had to contend with numerous motorists on Sunday who did not heed the warnings to stay at home.

“It was amazing to me,” said Police Lt. Patty Sherrill, “that despite messages from [the president and governor] declaring Massachusetts a storm emergency, people were still driving around at the height of the storm, even families with small children. It made it difficult for police, the Fire Department and DPW to do our jobs. Hopefully the next time, people will pay attention to warnings.”

From 10:44 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, firefighters received 43 calls while police received a similar amount. Doody called in an extra shift of 11 men and Trotta called in a dozen DPW workers to handle all of the fallen trees.

Doody commended all the departments involved for their quick response and for keeping the lines of communication open.

“I am proud of what everyone did,” he said. “It was a very efficient operation, very impressive.”

On Monday, Doody met with FEMA officials to begin to determine the amount of damage in order to receive federal emergency funding.

Fortunately, the town had no reports of flooding. Trotta reported that the Pine Street culvert is due to be completed sometime next week, and work on the Bolivar Street culvert could begin soon thereafter.

Click here for an important notice from selectmen regarding storm debris pick-up.

Click here for an important tree removal notice from Columbia Gas.

Check out the photo gallery for additional coverage of Tropical Storm Irene.

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