Thar she blows: Visitors at Corporation Beach in Dennis watch Hurricane Lee's impact

Denise Coffey, Cape Cod Times
·6 min read
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DENNIS — Hurricane Lee's brush with the Cape and Islands left scattered power outages, a few trees and wires down and high surf as it sped north overnight Friday into Saturday.

The region escaped potential whipping winds and heavy rain had the massive Hurricane Lee veered closer to the Cape. The National Weather Service downgraded Lee to a post-tropical cyclone on Saturday morning as it headed past Maine to Nova Scotia.

Eversource crews restored power to 11,000 customers, most of them on Cape Cod after Lee's hazardous gusts began to hit the region Friday night, Chris McKinnon, Eversource spokesman, said at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. About 275 Cape customers were without power at that time, he said.

Brett Johnson, left, and Clay Ives work through tropical storm-force winds from Hurricane Lee to clear a large silver maple tree that came down on Saturday morning in Brewster beside the Cranberry Inn along Route 6A. The storm was downgraded as it passed Cape Cod.
Brett Johnson, left, and Clay Ives work through tropical storm-force winds from Hurricane Lee to clear a large silver maple tree that came down on Saturday morning in Brewster beside the Cranberry Inn along Route 6A. The storm was downgraded as it passed Cape Cod.

"We're continuing to respond as quickly as we can," he said, adding crews would remain on the Cape while breezy conditions continued.

In Orleans, Route 6 was closed briefly Saturday morning between Exit 89 and the Orleans rotary because of a downed wire. Orleans Fire Department acting Capt. Doug Edmunds said otherwise the calls they were getting were mostly about trees falling into wires.

Lee's wind brings opportunity to some

Winds from Lee gave the Cape’s bayside beaches the brunt of the storm, which spurred Tyler Scholl to travel from Boston to Dennis to go kitesurfing at Corporation Beach. The tide was on its way in, and the wind and whitecaps were plenty when he arrived.

The 33-year-old has kitesurfed for 12 years, and Dennis beaches seemed a perfect place in light of the westerly winds, he said. The National Weather Service reported that the strongest gusts from Lee on Saturday had been recorded on Chapin Beach, where they reached 62 mph.

Mayflower and Chapin beaches were closed by the time Scholl arrived at 9:30 a.m., so he drove to Corporation. He called the winds manageable and the location with its curved beach fairly safe. It wasn’t like the day he tried to go out and his kite “exploded in the sky” because of strong wind gusts he estimated at 60 mph.

“It’s not too crazy,” he said before heading out to sea.

Lars Vestergaard came all the way from Glastonbury, Connecticut, to windsurf at Corporation Beach. He woke up at 3 a.m. and was in the surf at 6:15 a.m., he said. He likes the beach, calling it “somewhat protected” and a great place to get wind.

A windsurfer finds plenty of waves to ride on the incoming tide at Corporation Beach in Dennis taking advantage of tropical storm force- winds Saturday morning from Hurricane Lee.
A windsurfer finds plenty of waves to ride on the incoming tide at Corporation Beach in Dennis taking advantage of tropical storm force- winds Saturday morning from Hurricane Lee.

“It’s strong; it’s gusty,” he said of the wind, ranking the storm an 8 out of 10 from his experience.

Vestergaard has enjoyed the sport for about 40 years, he said. He wore a wetsuit and helmet as he headed back into the water. But not before helping another kitesurfer launch.

The wind took the surfer's kite up, dragging the surfer — his heels in the sand — until he reached his board and maneuvered it into the water. Soon he was riding the wind 20 feet in the air, before coming back down to the waves.

Flights, ferries canceled

Cape Air canceled all flights through Cape Cod Gateway Airport in Hyannis and Logan International Airport in Boston on Saturday. There were numerous other departing and arriving flight delays and cancellations at Logan throughout Saturday.

An electric lineman from One Source Power in Boston works to restring a power line along Route 6A in Orleans which fell atop the Route 6 overpass onto the road, closing it until it could be removed.
An electric lineman from One Source Power in Boston works to restring a power line along Route 6A in Orleans which fell atop the Route 6 overpass onto the road, closing it until it could be removed.

Hy-Line ferry trips between Hyannis and the Islands were canceled on Saturday and service with Steamship Authority was on a case-by-case basis but is expected to return to a normal schedule on Sunday The Steamship Authority waived change and cancellation fees through Sunday. Peter Pan and Plymouth and Brockton buses ran as scheduled.

State of emergency lifted, clean up begins

President Biden announced early Saturday that federal assistance would be available to the state to help with storm response efforts after Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency on Friday.

She lifted the state of emergency Saturday afternoon because storm impacts were minimal.

Lee was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, which is when a hurricane becomes "extra-tropical," and is associated with fronts and a larger wind field, meteorologist Sara Johnson, with the National Weather Service in Gray/Portland, Maine, told USA Today.

Post-tropical cyclones can still carry heavy winds and rains, according to the weather service.

Dennis town officials released a statement telling residents the transfer station and library were opening Saturday afternoon. Dennis Pines Golf Club, however, remained closed for cleanup.

Wellfleet Town Administrator Rich Waldo said the Outer Cape town didn't suffer any significant damage. At its peak, the storm left 68 residents without power, he said. By Saturday afternoon town crews were cleaning up small trees and branches that had fallen. No roads had been blocked.

"Proud of our team for their preparation and communication," he said via text.

In Sandwich, a Canton man wearing waders and a skull cap fished for striped bass and bluefish on Sandy Neck Beach. Lines of rough swell crashed close to the beach and the wind blew gusts of sand seashore as he braved 30 to 40 mph winds.

“It’s a little dirty, the water, but it’s good conditions,” said the man, who preferred not to use his name for privacy reasons, referring to the amount of seaweed in the water. “The waves churn the bait fish, so this is actually good. After this I’ll probably head down to the (Cape Cod) Canal, it’s sheltered there."

A stormy vacation

Longtime friends Storm Rapone and Jacqueline Kennedy watched the surfers from Corporation Beach. They had come to the Cape for vacation — Rapone from Rochester, New York, and Kennedy from Lakeville. Corporation and Dennis beaches are some of their favorites.

Rapone’s mother named her after a character in a book, she said; Kennedy because she was born on inauguration day. They had just come from having breakfast at the Red Cottage, the only place open when they were on the hunt earlier in the morning.

“We’d normally be sitting in the sun on the beach,” Kennedy said, laughing.

The women had seen worse storms in Dennis, some where they couldn’t even walk on the beach because of the conditions. They had to tighten hoods around their faces because of blowing sand. They watched the surfers in the waves. Vestergaard was already far out from shore on his sailboard, his red sail popping over the waves.

“You wouldn’t catch me out there,” Rapone said.

The National Weather Service forecast a return to sunny weather on Sunday with temperatures in the 70s. Perhaps Rapone and Kennedy will fit some sunny beach time in.

Times Staff writer Walker Armstrong contributed to this report.

Denise Coffey writes about business and tourism. Contact her at dcoffey@capecodonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Wind, waves bring surfers, visitors to bayside beaches