'Worst damage I've seen.' New Haven park heavily damaged in storm as historic building gets knocked off foundation
New Haven's Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Rebecca Bombero says more than 60 trees were either knocked over or snapped in half with some fully grown ones getting tossed over 100 feet.
More Stories
It looks like a bomb went off.
Cleanup efforts are underway in New Haven after Lighthouse Point Park was heavily damaged in the storm late Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
The violent wind and rising tidewaters even knocked the historic carousel building off its foundation.
"It was an old building," neighbor Preston Oros says, "but it's officially ruined."
New Haven's Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Rebecca Bombero says more than 60 trees were either knocked over or snapped in half with some fully grown ones getting tossed over 100 feet.
"We're just trying to figure things out right now," Bombero says. "This is the worst damage I've seen from anything in my 19 years with the city."
The storm happened in the middle of the night when the park was closed so thankfully no one was hurt.
Bombero says the historic carousel housed inside the building was relatively unscathed.
City cleanup crews tossed debris into huge dumpster bins Thursday night.
"Right now, the goal is to clean up and sure everything up so we can reopen the park and the beach to residents," Bombero says, "and work on our plans to restore the historic structure and protect the carousel it has housed for over 100 years."
The park is closed until further notice.
