What Sandy Wrought

Superstorm Sandy swept through Branford on Oct 30, bringing with it howling winds, high sea surges and a loss of power that lasted nearly a week for some residents. As 2012 comes to a close, we recognize Superstorm Sandy as the major environmental story of the year. Here are the photos our photographer Mary Johnson took to document Sandy’s impact on Branford. 

Sandy arrived on Oct 29, and by the next day her final winds and surges came ashore.  Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) reported that 14,908 homes were without power in town.  This means that in addition to electricity, cable stations and internet service in those homes were not working either.

Branford’s coastline begins in Short Beach in the western end of town. We start in Short Beach where the waves were high and deadly. Johnson’s Beach, along with the houses that face the beach, took a beating.

Short Beach Road was flooded and torn up.

Off Short Beach Road on a road near Hospice, the damage was evident.

Off Maple Street, houses along Driscoll Street were part of a lake.

Driscoll St. is near Branford Point. 

Turning back from the Point, the next set of streets in deep trouble were those around Meadow Street, where a power station is located. Meadow, typically a flood zone, was again under water.

Here is another Meadow St. view.

Also underwater was nearby Hammer Field. 

Town officials were especially concerned about Linden Avenue, which collapsed under water during Storm Irene on August 28, 2011. By and large, the new Linden Avenue road withstood Sandy’s energy when she bore down a little more than a year later. 

An elegant, old tree along Linden Avenue did not make it.

Nearby Limewood Avenue, in Indian Neck, was in trouble again. 

Hotchkiss grove was a study in unnerving beauty. Here is one view.

And another.

But it also suffered damage.

So did the lawns and golf links surrounding the Pine Orchard Club in Pine Orchard. 

Trees were down everywhere.

Stony Creek, at the eastern end of Branford, was hit, but not as badly as the village was hit during Storm Irene.

Here’s the Stony Creek dock.

While there was widespread tree and house damage all over Branford ​“and some of it was severe, we had experienced crews out there and we were prepared,” First Selectman Unk DaRos said. A lot was learned as a result of Irene, he said.

Some roads were hit hard by water and sand damage but crews arrived early on the scene in a first effort to fix them. Downed electric wires and flooded streets were reported all over town.

What residents began to realize, having now experienced two major storms in 13 months, is that hurricanes are the new norm and what was fixed once had to be fixed again. A whole new zoning protocol is now underway.

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