Microburst Inflicts Heavy Damage Along Haverhill-Plaistow Border

A transformer sits on the ground on Hazeltine Street, Plaistow, following a microburst in the area Monday. (WHAV News photograph.)

The brunt of a mid-afternoon thunderstorm Monday left fallen trees and utility wires, among other damage, along the Haverhill-Plaistow border due to a microburst which produced high winds and heavy rains.

Work crews on both sides of the state line worked into Monday evening clearing debris from roadways and properties or to restore power to affected electric customers. National Grid reported a handful of power customers in Haverhill remained without power Tuesday morning in the Newton Road-route 108 and Ward Hill neighborhoods.

Employees at Walgreens Pharmacy, 3 Plaistow Road, were disposing of formerly frozen and refrigerated foods this morning after the store and others in the small plaza remained without electricity overnight. Power was knocked out when a Hazeltine Street utility pole snapped.

Local weather spotters reported Monday to the National Weather Service trees and wires were down in North Parish neighborhoods including Merrill and North avenues, Rosemont, Gile and upper Main streets, as well as North Broadway and along Newton Road, route 108, in Plaistow just north of the Haverhill line.  A number of trees were reportedly uprooted in the vicinity of the Haverhill Country Club off North Avenue.  Houses or other buildings reported struck by trees included those on Main Street, Woodman Avenue and North Avenue.

Also, in the storm’s aftermath, a Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority bus carrying about four passengers and its driver on North Avenue was stopped by wires which fell atop the vehicle, MVRTA Administrator Joseph J. Costanzo confirmed to WHAV. No one was injured as the riders were delayed about 45 minutes while utility workers removed the fallen wires.

Other storm damage reported include an electric transformer fire on Corliss Hill Road and a traffic light at the intersection of Groveland and Water streets damaged by a fallen tree. In Methuen, a tree was reported down across route 213.

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Fallen branches partially block Woodrow Avenue, Haverhill. (WHAV News photograph.)