HANSON — With the wind howling at more than 50 miles per hour, according to reports — and some areas recorded close to 80 MPH — the South Shore was one of the hardest hit areas during Monday’s rain storm.
Hanson homeowner Jen Durant was left shaken and scared, but had luck on her side after a tree fell over her during the peak of the storm. She was unharmed.
She had run outside to check the latch on their chicken coop during the wind and rain on Monday when she heard a terrifying crack and a pine tree fell as she stood just feet from its landing.
Durant who is a nurse at Brockton Hospital is on the front lines during the Covid-19 pandemic. She has had a busy work schedule, and is balancing home life with five teens at their East Washington Street home. The family was outside Tuesday cleaning up after the aftermath of the enormous pine tree, which spared their mother’s life and sheered the metal car port completely off the house.
Durant’s brother, David Towle, and their father, also David Towle, were breaking apart and towing sections of the large pine to release the trapped vehicles that were left inside and under the twisted metal. Durant said she could hear and see other pine trees falling in the grove behind her home as she made her way to safety.
Kerry Krup was home with her two teens at around 5:15 p.m. on Bowker Avenue a small side street in Hanson.
“I was downstairs and heard a horrific noise that was very loud and shook the whole house — so sort of in a panic — I ran upstairs where my two boys were,” said Krup.
Luckily the family was unharmed but shaken as the shattered glass and tree limbs entered one of the sons’ rooms who are aged 13 and 14.
It was a scary few minutes and a relief that everyone was OK, she said.
The limbs had gone through the roof but some of the attic was pierced were she accumulates her storage and sentimental keepsakes.
Rain poured in the kitchen where the limbs had pierced the roof like daggers as the fire department and building inspector, as well as her landlord, all came to assess the damages.
Remnants of the pine were left on the front yard Tuesday and just feet away some portions of the tree were like splintered blades vertically standing in the ground proving the force of the storm.
Having to consider social distancing during the pandemic, Krup who was calm and composed, said they are relieved to able to stay at the home (deemed safe by the building inspector) another positive in the frightening circumstances.
She said she was happy that nobody was hurt and considering the craziness during this time of pandemic it was a trigger of some anxiety having to let people in the house, she said.
“We tried to isolate ourselves and having to let people in to help also caused a bit of stress,” she said.
She commended the fire department for their quick response during such a hectic afternoon.
The Hanson Fire Department responded to 30 storm-related calls with two homes being struck by trees. Both were still habitable, according to Deputy Fire Chief Rob O’Brien. On Tuesday afternoon 50 percent of power was still out in the town of Hanson.
In Whitman, the hardest hit areas with tree limbs and wires down was in the area of Indian Trail and Arrow Drive, according to Whitman Fire Chief Timothy Grenno.
They had calls for storm related issues, however no reports of injuries or trees through homes, he added.