LYME, N.H. (WCAX) – Yet another powerful storm has left its mark on our region. This one hit Lyme, New Hampshire, Tuesday night, toppling power lines and more than 100 trees. The National Weather Service is investigating whether a tornado touched down.
The sounds of chippers will likely be heard on Whipple Hill Road in Lyme for the next several days. Tom Heitzman knew something was wrong Tuesday night when the wind quickly started to pick up.
“The leaves that are usually falling down, the big limbs and such, they were going up in the air. It was like ‘Wizard of Oz,’” Heitzman said.
The high winds left huge trees across the roof of his home and more limbs scattered about his yard.
“The trees all went down at once like matchsticks,” Heitzman said.
Just up the road, more than 100 trees fell in Brett Burlison’s Lyme yard. Most completely missed his house, doing no significant property damage.
“It was literally over like that,” Burlison said. “All the trees just laying over and I could tell the wind was going in a circular pattern.”
Local resident Tony Pippin took video of the storm showing what appears to be a funnel cloud. The National Weather Service was called in to investigate.
“We are in contact with state of New Hampshire emergency management,” said Michael Hinsley, Lyme’s emergency management director.
First responders say what was striking about this storm was how localized the damage was.
“Gardens with the lupine seeds still intact on the top. And then on the other side of the driveway, there’s a three-foot locust that’s uprooted and on a house,” Hinsley said.
At the bottom of the hill, the high winds pushed a barn roughly 20 feet to the east.
Thankfully, nobody was injured in the storm.
“It came through like a bomb,” Burlison said. “It was in and out fast and just did a lot of damage.”
At the height of the outages, the state’s largest utility reported more than 14,000 customers without power. For most, the electricity has since been restored.