Tens of thousands of people were without power Thursday as strong storms knocked down trees and power lines across New England.
As of 5:40 p.m., MEMA was reporting around 11,800 people without power, though the number was steadily dropping. By 11:30 p.m., under 1,300 customers were in the dark. Eversource was also reporting hundreds of outages in Connecticut and New Hampshire.
Aidan Philoon was home in Chelmsford with his brother when the storm rolled in.
"I heard a giant crack," said the teenager. "Five seconds later, the whole ground started shaking, and I heard the glass go."
The next thing he knew, a giant tree had landed on his Porter Avenue house.
"There's glass all over the kitchen," he said. "It's raining inside."
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He called his parents, who were on Cape Cod.
"The first time in 20 years, we left our kids home and we went away for a couple of nights," said Michelle Philoon.
Parts of the house were nearly destroyed.
"It was way worse than I ever imagined," she said.
In another Chelmsford neighborhood, the Balboni family is also dealing with a huge mess.
"I was standing at the back door," said Tom Balboni. "It got very black, I looked out at the tops of the trees."
A moment later, a tree landed on the roof, part of it slicing through a bedroom ceiling.
"I'm just happy everybody's OK," said Crystal Balboni. "It's really scary to get the call when you're driving in a bad storm. I heard the fear in his voice."
The Philoon family is still assessing the overwhelming damage, but there is a bright spot.
"I do home day care," said Michelle Philoon. "I would have had a houseful of kids. That's a blessing in disguise, I guess, we were on vacation."
A large tree was spotted on Parker Street in Acton Thursday, not far from the Maynard town line.
In Framingham, officials warned that Bethany Road was closed at Winthrop Road due to downed wires. Drivers coming from Ashland were warned to take a detour to reach Route 135.
In Newton, residents described the moments a tree came down in their neighborhood on Derby Street, narrowingly missing the surrounding homes.
"I came out and looked out of the window and I thought 'oh my God,' a huge sudden burst of fire! It scared me to death. It really was so loud and crackled and sparks were flying everywhere, it was frightening," one woman told NBC10 Boston.
Thankfully, the tree avoided surrounding homes and cars.
Severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings were issued across much of New England throughout the afternoon. See a full list here.
Conditions are expected to improve for Friday. Click here for the most updated forecast.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
