Sharon hit hard by summer storm

Photo by Cynthia Hochswender

The stately old trees that are so much a part of the visual grandeur of the Northwest Corner seem to have been hit hard by the past year’s storms. The rains, wind and lightning of the July 18 storm took down quite a few in Sharon, including one grand old maple on South Main Street that toppled and took down the two trees beside it.

SHARON — A sudden but particularly vicious storm hit the state on Wednesday, July 18, taking down trees and knocking out power in several towns.

In the Northwest Corner, Sharon was the hardest hit. According to Connecticut Light & Power, 56 percent of Sharon customers were in the dark from the middle of Wednesday afternoon. Many customers had power restored by early morning, but some had to wait until later in the day. All were relieved that the outage was a minor blip compared to the aftermath of last October’s freak snowstorm.

In addition to lightning, thunder, rain and high winds, some Sharon residents reported that their yards were carpeted by a blanket of hail. The icy balls disappeared quickly, but severe damage was done to summer gardens and early vegetables.