Tornado clean-up continues

Wethersfield (WTNH) - Friday night about 9,000 people were without power after the tornado. Tonight, we're told that number is about 200.

The travel ban to Wethersfield has been lifted and main roadways are cleared.

Clean up for day two was a relative success, but there's a lot more to do.

The Carusos' are making the best of it after a tornado ripped through their Wethersfield neighborhood.

"I've been in the middle of three hurricanes and this is the worst thing I have ever seen," John Caruso said.

Bonnie Therrien, the town manager, agreed.

"We've had six homes out of about 70 that we've had to condemn so that's been really rough for the residents," Therrien said.

Rough is just one of the milder adjectives residents had for this weekend's wild weather.

Where once leaves fell in the fall, trees fall this summer.

CL&P, Wethersfield and surrounding towns, crews from Massachusetts and weary homeowners were all taking a break from the clean up.

It takes a lot to create the kind of damage we've seen in Wethersfield. The National Weather Service estimates the wind speeds of this tornado was over 100 miles per hour.

"It was a mess. Since then we've been cleaning up, cutting down," Caruso said. "We've had tree crews in here taking trees off roofs. Everything was a mess."

And a costly one at that. What insurance won't cover, residents say they're spending hundreds, even thousands to fix damage or replace belongings lost.

"We have neighboring towns that have donated their time. The MDC has, but for us private contractors, employees. It's big money but we have to spend it," Therrien said.