Wind Storm.

3-12-08 SHORT HILLS: Four days ago, Saturday, we had several inches of rain, culminating in a severe windstorm. We lost a big white ash along Great Hills Road that fell into the wires, breaking the utility pole and hanging over the street. The police closed the street. We were unaware until later in the evening when we saw the flashing lights. Our electric wires and cable wires were pulled loose from the house, but, somehow, service was not interrupted. Many homes in the area did lose power. Three other trees in the neighbors’ yards behind us were also blown over, all by south winds. The windstorm made noise like a jet plane taking off. One of the trees behind us fell on our split rail fence and did some damage. Another fell on neighbor’s roof and skylight.

Broken Pole and Tree.

Sunday I played pick-up-sticks and cut the fallen tree off the back fence with the reciprocating saw and repaired the fence with spare rails we had in the garage. One fence post was split vertically. I screwed it together as a temporary fix to maintain the integrity of the fence. Later on Sunday, an electric company worker in a bucket truck cut the top off of the ash tree, but couldn’t do anything else by himself. The street remained closed to traffic.

Monday I stapled the wire mesh back on the fence and replaced a few other broken rails and took some big branches to the dump. The street stayed closed.

Tuesday was the big rehab. Eleven trucks from the power company, PSE&G, and Verizon arrived in the morning. They propped up the broken pole and leaning tree and then took the rest of the tree down in small pieces. Then they replaced the utility pole after the gas and water companies identified their line locations so those lines wouldn’t be damaged. They also took down some of our fence in the work zone. After the new pole went up, PSE&G transferred their lines to the new pole, and then Verizon moved theirs and Millburn Fire Department fire alarm lines.

A Veritable Army.

Today Comcast repaired their line and reattached it to the house. Stacey Electric is replacing the electric feed to the house because the original line was damaged in the trauma. Frank’s Tree was here this morning to start the clean up with a giant chipper which ground up chunks of trunk a foot in diameter. They have to come back for the biggest pieces and Verizon has to get the rest of their pole. When all that is finished, I will repair the fence and all the damage to the shrubs and small trees in the work zone.

New blooms: andromeda.

Andromeda.

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