Across the region, neighbors were helping neighbors as residents dealt with the aftermath of a harrowing Friday afternoon storm that packed nearly 70 mph winds and heavy rain.
With power out, roads blocked and restaurants closed, some residents spent Friday night in a regional shelter in North Andover, others picked up free lunch bags at the Stevens Memorial Library on Saturday, while many more charged their phones or got out of the sweltering heat by checking out cooling centers.
In Andover, longtime residents Ruth and George Martin knew the presence of good neighbors.
They stood at the end of their driveway at 4 p.m. Saturday, munching on chocolate chip cookies, courtesy of friendly neighbors.
Some 24 hours earlier, a gigantic maple uprooted and hit the front of their home at 11 Canterbury St. where George has lived for 70 years.
At the side of the house, adorned with white clapboards and red shutters, a tree limb broke and cracked the natural gas service fixture.
Their next door neighbors, the Reillys, came over right away, walked the Martins back to their house and gave them water.
“They were the best,” Ruth said.
At 4 p.m. Saturday, the Blakes, from across the street, brought the Martins a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies.
The two Canterbury Street couples chatted about what’s next and the latest destructive storm to hit the Merrimack Valley.
The Martins felt fortunate that they were not hurt, and that others in town had escaped life threatening injuries after Friday’s tempest.
Meanwhile, in North Andover, Director of Emergency Management Jeff Coco, working out of the Stevens Memorial Library, handed out bagged lunches on Saturday afternoon. The handout was scheduled to go until 5 p.m., but by around 4 p.m. he had given out around 200 bags.
Local residents were thrilled with the meal.
North Andover resident Liz Santana said she hadn’t been out of her Steven’s Corner apartment since the storm hit around 3 p.m. Friday, but she and her son Aidan Lane, 9, needed to find food.
“We are in the same boat with everyone,” she said. “This is the first day we are leaving the apartment and trying to find someplace that may have food and electricity.”
She praised town residents for their generosity.
“It’s amazing that we live in a town where everybody is helping each other out,” she said. “Because without internet, without power it’s so hard to know what is going on.”
The meals included chips, sandwiches and fruit.
“He is a growing kid, so he is always hungry,” she said.
Tony Abate hurried off from the library carrying a number of lunches in his arms, hoping to help others in the community.
Abate lives at Bingham Way, a housing development for seniors, and was bringing food to his neighbors.
Like in much of the area, power was out there, too.
“It’s tough, it’s really hard for the people there,” he said. “No electric, no hot water.”
“It’s difficult but we are getting through it,” said Abate.
The Red Cross also set up a location at the nearby new senior center, off Sutton Street, which provided charging stations and food.
Coco said around a dozen people stayed there Friday night.
Adam Hayani, his wife, and his family of three boys and one girl headed to the Red Cross center in search of electricity. The family lives at the Heritage Green Apartment Complex at 78 Edgelawn Ave., in North Andover. While their apartment was untouched many around them were hit hard by the storm.
“Like a hurricane,” Rayan Hayani, 13, said. “Trees falling everywhere.”
The family also saw a number of wires down in their area.
“The windows were broken and you can see the wood inside,” said Rayan Hayani about an apartment building next to theirs that suffered damage.
The Red Cross shelter will be open at least through Monday, said Jeff Hall, a communications manager with the Red Cross.