New Hampshire News

DEERFIELD, N.H. (WBZ) ― The National Weather Service confirmed Friday that it was a tornado that hit nine New Hampshire towns, including the Epsom-Deerfield area Thursday where a woman was killed.   

Weather service officials said a tornado moved from Deerfield to Epsom, Barnstead and Alton. It then moved through New Durham, Wolfeboro, Freedom, Ossipee and Effingham. 

Based on the damage, the National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado with winds in the 111-135 mph range hit nine towns.  Officials say damage still needs to be examined in Pittsfield to see if the twister also hit that town.

Brenda Stevens, 57, died and her husband and 3-month-old grandson were hurt in the violent storm. They were in a home on Northwood Lake that completely collapsed.

 ( Read more on their story.)

Neighbors said she had been watching the infant boy while his parents, Stevens' stepson and his wife, were at work.

It was the first tornado-related death in New Hampshire since 1946 and the first in New England since a twister hit Great Barrington, Mass. in 1995.

The tornado had winds of more than 100 miles per hour, according to an early estimate from the National Weather Service, making it an EF2 on a scale of 0-to-5.

The tornado and severe thunderstorms left an intermittent path of destruction concentrated along a path running about 20 miles northeast from the lake to New Durham.

 View: Interactive Storm Damage Map

Officials estimate that a half-dozen homes were destroyed and more than 200 damaged. The storms tore apart thousands of trees, toppling many onto homes. 

Fifteen towns were affected. Nine of them suffered major damage - Ossipee, Wolfeboro, Alton, New Durham, Barnstead, Pittsfield, Epsom, Northwood, and Deerfield.

The Red Cross, a pair of Federal Emergency Management Agency teams and a state team led by the governor surveyed the damage and worked to provide and coordinate help.

In Epsom, Fire Chief Stewart Yeaton said he was concerned about people getting hurt during the massive cleanup. He said the risks included the possibility of live wires still on the ground, weakened tree limbs and inexperienced people using chain saws.

"It's still a dangerous situation," he said.

Utility officials counted about 1,150 customers without power.  By Friday afternoon, 990 customers were still without power, though officials said they expected to have power restored by midnight to all customers.

Friday, Gov. John Lynch led a group of state and federal officials, including members of the congressional delegation, to survey the damage. Their first stop was Epsom, across Northwood Lake from the Stevenses' house, which was surrounded by yellow caution tape.

Wood the same color as the house bobbled in the water in front of one home. The debris included baseball cards, chairs, and a small stuffed animal.

Picking their way over fallen wires, around fallen trees and chain saw crews, the group met with residents who were trying to pick up the pieces.

Rita Lambert said she was surprised to see Lynch.

"I didn't think we rated that much," she said.

But Lynch said seeing people and hearing their stories was valuable to both sides.

"It's important for me to get out there and to reassure them that I know about their situation and that working with the congressional delegation, we'll do everything we can to try to help them," he said.

Chris Pope, the state emergency management director, gave residents his cell phone number.

In Barnstead, he stopped on Winwood Road, where countless fallen trees had buried homes.

"Where's the house?" Lynch asked Todd Shaw, who pointed through a mishmash of trees to his brother's home.

"Oh my God," said Lynch. "How are you going to get in there?"
 
"We'll cut our way in," said Shaw.

Roads were lined with utility trucks, trucks hauling replacement telephone poles and tree service trucks.

Red Cross and Federal Emergency Management Agency teams were in the area.

And neighbors were helping neighbors.

In Barnstead, a group of people showed up around noon and began giving firefighters and work crews bottled water.

"People are great," said Deputy Fire Chief Shawn Mulcahy. "Look at that."

At one home, a garage was sliced in half by a fallen tree. State Fire Marshal Bill Degnan pointed at the garage and said he was concerned residents throughout the stricken area would get hurt trying to recover items from such unstable buildings.

One Barnstead resident was injured Friday morning while clearing debris. Mulcahy said the man was knocked out by a falling tree limb.

Anyone with questions should call a new public information line at 1-888-330-6764.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)