Gusts of wind knocked down a large tree on North Congress Street last night, leaving a few dozen homes without electricity and smashing into one student’s car in the process.
Laura Dakin, a junior studying psychology and North Congress resident, said the immediate noise of the tree crashing into the power line sounded as if there had been an explosion.
“People were screaming and I thought someone got hurt,” she said.
The tree was unable to withstand yesterday’s windy weather, falling at about 8:45 p.m., said Athens Police Lt. Randy Gray.
Houses stretching from the intersection of North Congress Street and West Carpenter Street through about 135 N. Congress St. were left without electricity as of midnight. Gray said he was unsure when power would be restored.
“The tree came down and it got everything — power, telephone, TV cable. This is a big phone trunk link here… the phone company is going to have a lot of work,” he said.
Though many homes were without power, the effects could have been much more wide-ranging for the city, Gray said.
“Depending on what circuit gets hit, it could knock out Uptown or it could knock out East State Street,” he said.
The tree did cause property damage as well, landing on a car owned by Zach Coder, a senior studying actuarial sciences. He said he was unsure how much the car would cost to repair, but noted that it isn’t “worth a whole lot.”
When he first heard that a large tree had hit his car, Coder said he thought his friends were joking.
“I definitely wasn’t worried about it falling when I parked there,” he said.
During the night, many residents of the street sat outside and watched members of Athens Police and Athens Fire Departments investigate the scene.
Phil Gaudiomonte, a senior studying criminology, said he was disappointed by the timing of the power outage.
“Kind of a bummer we’re missing some good baseball,” he said.
For others, the restrictions of a power outage had yet to set in.
“I’ll probably be more upset as the night goes and I realize the things we can’t do,” Dakin said.
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