Isaias topples trees and wires in Middlebury

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Middlebury DPW employees Marc Camputaro (operating the claw on the excavator) and Mark Stevens clear fallen trees on Dwyer Road following Tropical Storm Isaias. (Dan Norton photo)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

Tropical Storm Isaias lasted a mere 6 hours when it came through town August 4. In that time, the storm blew down enough trees and branches to keep Middlebury Department of Public Works (DPW) crews working 16 hour days for the next three weeks.

DPW Director Dan Norton said only one thing surprised him about Isaias – the amount of damage the storm did in such a short time. Otherwise, it’s just another storm requiring cleanup.

Norton, who has been with the DPW for 36 years, said, “I’ve been through so many of these things that they are getting common place. We kind of know how to clean them up. We have a system down and we just do it.”

That system actually starts while the storm is still in progress. “During the storm, we try to keep the roads open to the best of our ability for fire, ambulance and police,” Norton said. “Then immediately following, you’re in a make-safe mode working with Eversource, clearing trees that were on wires.” He said town crews have to be sure the power is off so they can safely work with trees that have fallen on wires.

During Isaias, when DPW vehicles were out prowling the roads and clearing falling debris, one crew got trapped in their vehicle. Norton said they were traveling Three Mile Hill Road near Park Road Extension when a tree fell in front of them, bringing wires down with it. Before they could get turned around to go back the way they came, a tree fell behind their vehicle, also bringing wires down with it. They had to sit in the truck for several hours while they waited for Eversource to cut off the power and then the excavator shown in the photo to get to the scene and remove the fallen trees.

The town depends on Eversource during and after storms like Isaias. Eversource needs to cut off the power so DPW employees can safely clean up debris. Norton said an Eversource crew working with the town made it possible for all the town roads to be cleared in two days. Getting power restored to Eversource customers in town was a separate matter; some had to wait a week or longer for that to happen.

Norton said storm cleanup generally begins on the East side of town, which is more densely populated and has more dead end streets, and works westward. For this storm, DPW also offered to do a one-time pass through town to pick up storm debris residents placed curbside. He said the town did this in the past when Hurricanes Gloria and Alfred came through town.

The debris crews picked up and the debris residents placed curbside joined what is now a mountain of storm debris down at the transfer station. The town will deal with that in a couple of weeks, Norton said. It will go through the huge tub grinder.

Tropical Storm Isaias cleanup is almost complete, but DPW crews know it’s not their last cleanup. “We seem to be doing this so often,” Norton said, “always cleaning up from something, a line of thunderstorms or tropical storms.”