A police officer barely escapes a falling tree as storm blows through South Shore
A Cohasset police officer got out of his cruiser to check out a report of low-hanging wires at South Main Street and River Road on Saturday when he heard a loud snap and saw a large tree falling toward him and the police SUV.
The officer ran as the tree crushed the cruiser's roof and part of the passenger-side cabin, police said.
The officer was not injured, but the cruiser, a 2018 Ford Police Interceptor, was totaled.
"We dodged a tragedy today, and I'm so thankful that the officer is OK," Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley said. "This incident is an excellent example of why we always encourage people to stay indoors during these storm events."
The incident occurred about 1 p.m. Saturday. The former Hurricane Lee, which had been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, was bringing wind gusts between 20 mph and 30 mph to the Massachusetts coastline.
The storm left the South Shore mostly unscathed. There were no reported power failures or any widespread damage, and the risk of flooding from Saturday afternoon's high tide became less of a concern as the weakened weather front moved on from the area.
The South Shore got less than an inch of rain, with Plymouth on the higher end at three-quarters of an inch.
Thousands of Eversource customers on the Cape did experience disruptions. That number soon dropped to a few hundred and continued to decrease throughout the morning Saturday.
High-surf advisories were in effect until 8 a.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service in Boston, which said Scituate had experienced some ocean spillover overnight.
President Biden declares a state of emergency
FEMA announced late Saturday morning that President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency for portions of the state. With the declaration comes federal disaster assistance for Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk and Worcester counties.
Some South Shore events scheduled for Saturday were rescheduled to Sunday. They include the Marshfield Lobsterfest, Pembroke Celebrates and the Hanover Corn Festival. A benefit show in Scituate for victims of the Maui wildfire has been canceled. A new date has not been set.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said early Sunday that the post-tropical cyclone was about 35 miles west of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and about 225 miles west of Channel-Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland. The top sustained wind speed had dropped for a third time in 24 hours to 50 mph with some higher gusts expected.
“Gradual weakening is forecast during the next couple of days, and Lee could dissipate on Tuesday,” the hurricane center said.
Storm surges were expected to subside Sunday after being forecast as up to 3 feet Saturday along coastal areas, the hurricane center said.
A 51-year-old driver in Searsport, Maine, died Saturday after a large tree limb fell on his vehicle on U.S. Highway 1 during high winds. The limb brought down live power lines and utility workers had to cut power before removing the man, who died later at a hospital, Police Chief Brian Lunt said.
The Associated Press and the Cape Cod Times contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Falling tree crushes police cruiser as Lee brushes past South Shore
