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Strong Thunderstorms Set Fires, Leave Behind A Path Of Damage

PEMBROKE (CBS) - Strong thunderstorms tore through the area Saturday morning, leaving behind significant damage in some areas.

There were reports of several trees down in Duxbury.

Damage was also reported in Pembroke and Halifax.

In Pembroke, homeowners say trees just missed crushing their houses.

Matt Putnam was upstairs with his wife and baby when he says they made a break for the basement.

WBZ-TV's Jim Smith reports

"All of a sudden at the very end of the storm, it just picked up intensity," said Putnam. "I said this isn't normal, let's get down to the basement to be on the safe side. It only lasted for about a minute or two, but I heard trees falling down. And it just ended."

Bert Robbins said it was the worst storm he's seen in 40 years.

"We were watching the lighting and all of a sudden I just heard a thump on the front of the house and the tree came down," said Robbins. "There was no snap, crackle or pop or anything else to it,  just down it came."

Halifax officials confirmed three houses in their town were hit by lightning. Two of those homes caught fire from the lightning strikes. One of those homes was reported to be abandoned.

There were also reports of tree damage, flash flooding, and unconfirmed reports of a possible microburst in the Brockton area.

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