Snapshots of Hurricane Irene

A week ago today, Hurricane Irene barreled her way into Branford. She moved in at high tide from the southeast, an angle that left some beachfront areas decimated and others barely touched. Our photographer, Mary Johnson, was out all week taking photos of the storm and its aftermath. Here they are. We were aided by our readers, in particular Patti Brill-Piscitelli, who lives in Short Beach. 

Our photos start in Short Beach, which borders on East Haven, and ends in Stony Creek, which borders Guilford. We will visit communities along the way. 

Beckett Avenue was badly hit as soaring waves crashed into homes along the beachfront and then dropped to the avenue below. 

Moving along the shoreline, Irene stopped at Branford Point.

The storm moved inland to Meadow Street and Hammer Field, where the sign predicted the event.

Kids there took advantage of the sport at hand.

Off Maple Street at Bryan and Driscoll roads, water rushed in from the salt marsh, creating yet another lake. Kids got the raft out. 

Back along the shoreline, a giant tree went down at Sunrise Cove.

Irene left little lakes in Hotchkiss Grove.

At Limewood Avenue, neighbors gathered to see it all.

One house along Limewood offered an invitation. The gathering might have been canceled, because Limewood soon became inaccessible. Later on, heavy equipment cleared the road of sand and debris.

At the Pine Orchard Yacht and Country Club, the storm took over the golf course, creating the Pine Orchard Lake.

The clubhouse suffered serious water damage. This was a storm where folks were able to document the event via digital camera and cellphone — -until their phones and cameras lost power the next day.

Here’s the overall scene.

Linden Avenue, the only road into and out of the Indian Neck-Pawson Park community, seems to have experienced the worst damage. Some of the road was lifted up by the ferocity of the storm and deposited elsewhere. Town engineers went out the next day to assess the damage. Neighbors gave up their front lawns so that a temporary road could be built.

The town center was all prepared and came through the storm relatively unscathed.

Stony Creek, the last borough along Branford’s shoreline, was without power until Friday, as was Short Beach. One sail boat broke its moorings and found itself lifted onto a rock.

On Friday workers came to Hall’s Point Road to right the rig.

Some watched from the shore.

Gil Kelman, whose home lies near the hurtled boat, watched from the Sound. The sailboat survived.

So did the people of Branford. A sense of camaraderie was pervasive as neighbors pitched in to help those whose houses were flooded or partially destroyed. People were polite to each other even when driving the streets of Branford without overhead traffic lights.

One window along the way said it all: ​“G’night Irene.”

Sally E. Bahner and Marcia Chambers contributed reporting.