LYNN — An overnight wind storm that felled three dozen trees citywide couldn’t have hit the city at a worse time.
With thousands of trick or treaters set to walk the neighborhoods Tuesday night, Andrew Hall, the city’s Department of Public Works commissioner, said his crews will be working around the clock to remove tree limbs from streets and sidewalks.
“We’re expecting lots of pedestrians on the road after dark and that’s causing me great stress,” he said.
A swift moving storm with hurricane force winds clipped New England Sunday night and into Monday with speeds of up to 60 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.
The damaging winds and intense rain caused trees to fall and bring down wires.
National Grid reported 74,164 homes or 28 percent of its customers in Essex County were without power Monday. Of that number, 340 homes in Lynn were without electricity and two dozen in Swampscott.
Hall said he started getting calls at about 11 p.m. Sunday night. But his crews could not leap into action immediately because when electric wires are downed, the power must be cut by the utility company before they start removing tree limbs, he said.
“National Grid won’t go up in the buckets if it’s too windy, so we’re waiting for the wind to drop,” he said.
Brimblecom Street, near Lynn Commons, was blocked when a giant maple tree fell and took the wires down, he said. Trees fell on Raddin Street near the Saugus River and on Dearborn Avenue, off Summer Street. A towering oak tree came down at the Special Needs Camp on Pennybrook Road at Lynn Woods Reservation.
Magnolia Park and Gallagher Playground were among parks that had trees split and fall, as well as some in the city’s cemeteries, Hall said.
In addition, a car was crushed on Atlantic Street, he said.
“We’re trying to get everything cleaned up as quick as possible, but chainsaws and bucket trucks are dangerous and you must be alert,” he said. “Eventually our guys will have to go home and rest.”
In Swampscott, the Public Works director Gino Cresta has had his hands full since 4 a.m. Monday.
“We’ve lost several trees and we’ve had two crews out since before dawn moving limbs from the middle of the streets,” he said.
The biggest tree fell on Eulow Street, which hit a home. And on Orchard Circle, a tree fell across the street stopping traffic. There were limbs large enough to block traffic elsewhere in town, he said.
Cresta confirmed there was a power outage on Walnut Road. “The number of limbs that fell was one of the worst storms I’ve seen,” he said. “But as far as damage we were fortunate. But we will be working through the night to clean it up.”
