NEWTON, MASS. (WHDH) - A local driver said she is thankful to be alive after a falling tree sent a utility pole, a transformer and wires crashing onto her SUV in Newton on Monday.
The incident happened around 10 a.m. on Dedham Street and Bonnie Filkins’ car partially melted and burned. Hf Transformer
“I’m just glad I’m OK,” Filkins later told 7NEWS. “It wouldn’t have been a good Christmas for my family.”
Filkins said she was driving during Monday’s stormy weather when she saw the tree come down across the road in front of her.
Though she said she saw the tree, she said she wasn’t considering the wires until the pole fell onto her car.
“It sounded like a bomb went off,” she said.
Filkins said glass shattered into her car. She said she saw smoke, heard pops and realized her car was catching fire.
Though Filkins got out safely, first responders took her to an area hospital to get her cuts checked for glass.
Back at the crash site on Dedham Street, the damage left behind was still visible Monday afternoon, with Filkins’ car partially melted, charred and crushed.
Crews continued working into the night, replacing utility poles and bringing in heavy equipment to remove the fallen tree from the road.
Sharing their own reactions, neighbors said this could have been even worse.
“It’s unfortunate what happened to their car,” said neighbor Patrick Lavey. “But, had they been just a little further down the road, that tree would have fallen on their car and just crushed it.”
Beyond Newton, damage reports poured in across New England Monday, with thousands eventually losing power.
Downed lines and flooding blocked roads, while stormy conditions at sea snarled ferry service.
At Logan Airport, the FAA also at one point ordered a ground stop for all flights headed out of Boston.
Among other scares on the road, police in Wellesley said a large tree and live wires came down on a car on Laurel Avenue, trapping a driver in their car. Emergency crews had to wait for power to be cut to get the driver to safety. The driver, though, was not hurt.
In Abington, photos shared with 7NEWS showed the damage left behind after a tree came down on a car on Camp Street just minutes after the driver had gotten out.
Mere miles from Camp Street in Abington, officials said an 89-year-old man was killed after high winds and heavy rain caused a tree to fall onto a trailer in Hanover.
MORE INFORMATION: Wild weather knocks out power, delays flights, causes damage around southern New England
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