Powerful Storm Causes Widespread Damage In Boston

BOSTON (CBS) - Power outages may not have been as numerous in Boston but there was still plenty of cleanup from the powerful storm.

Hal Schaefer heard a gust of wind and a crack outside his Dorchester home.  He found a massive old oak tree had come crashing down, coming to rest on his car and taking utility poles with it.

"There's power out all the way along here," said Schaefer.

It will take some time to restore as at least four poles were damaged, some snapped in half.  His car buried beneath the branches is probably salvageable but that's not the story on Boston's waterfront.

High wind and waves heavily damaged docks and boat houses.  One dock was even hoisted up on its side, and boat after boat had damaged engines.

The force of the storm was witnessed by Scott, a nearby resident.

"The stern of the boats was bashing against the granite wall," Scott said. "It was a grinding sound and engine covers were popping off."

On Carson Beach in South Boston there was a sight not often seen as two sailboats broke from their moorings and ditched on the beach.

"They're big boats to get tossed on the sea like little toy boats.  It's amazing," said Frannie Rossi who came to the beach to take pictures.

In the Fenway neighborhood another car was buried by a fallen tree on a day when the owner didn't put it in a nearby garage.

The winds were powerful enough to knock down a chimney in Charlestown between two brownstones. Bricks were strewn on the sidewalk below and heavily damaged some cars in their path with a sound some neighbors won't forget.

"You just heard loud noises and you couldn't tell if it was trees.  I didn't think it was a chimney," said Charlestown resident Bill Kelly.