NORTON, MASS. (WHDH) - People in Norton were left cleaning up Tuesday night after wild weather swept through the region.
Those storms brought hail and strong winds, leaving debris scattered throughout town.
Some say they were caught off guard when the unseasonable hailstorm quickly took a turn for the worse.
Swirling funnel clouds appeared overhead through much of southern Massachusetts, snapping trees like twigs.
Several neighborhoods were left in the dark.
“I wasn’t really expecting that is was going to be like this, that it would hit Norton like that,” said Ed Bargan.
Norton firefighters say they had to send tree removal crews to Mansfield Avenue when several homeowners got trapped. The fallen trees blocked driveways, even crushing a garage.
“It’s incredible and significant,” Norton Fire Capt. Jason Robbins said. “There’s a large number of trees down that’s caused some major property damage to power lines.”
“The atmosphere was prime for small spinups, and that’s what happened,” said Ed Capone of the National Weather Service, who lives in the area.
He says the damage there could be caused by a tornado or a microburst, and that they’ll be looking at the downed trees to be sure.
“You can see actually a rotation with damage in different directions with the trees down,” Capone said.
Crews say they’re fortunate there were no reported injuries — and despite the damage, no homeowners were displaced. But there’s still quite a bit of cleanup to go.
“I’ve been here for more than 17 years,” Bargan said. “This is the first time I’ve seen it like this.”
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