In Westport, the mood is one of relief

By Martine Powers, Globe Staff

WESTPORT -- For residents in this seaside town, Hurricane Sandy’s force caused downed trees and power outages -- but most agreed that they’re grateful the damage was not worse.

“The damage is not as bad as I was expecting,” said Lieutenant Brian Beaulieu of the Westport Fire Department who is also the town’s deputy director of emergency management. “From what was forecasted, I expected more damage.”

Beaulieu said most of the damage to homes was lost shingles or siding, and a few waterfront properties experienced minor flooding. But he was not aware of a home that experienced significant structural damage, he said.

Wes Norman, 83, lives on Westport’s Main Road and on Monday afternoon, when he heard the crash of a chestnut tree falling overhead, he was fearful that the roof had been cracked from the impact. But the tree did not damage his roof, other than a knocking loose a few shingles.

But it also brought down the power line to his house, which had been tagged with red caution tape.

On Tuesday afternoon, as Norman waited for an electrical contractor to help remove the splintered tree, he drove around on a small tractor collecting piles of other surrounding, smaller branches.

“This will straighten up pretty good once we get at it,” Norman said.

Louis Elias, 50, a resident of Sodom Road, lost power to his home Monday afternoon after a large tree crashed onto a nearby power line. Tuesday morning, utility work crews were making repairs.

As Elias dragged fallen branches into a pile on his lawn, his attitude was stoic.

“Trees fall, leaves fall,” Elias said. “It could’ve been worse.”

Martine Powers can be reached at mpowers@globe.com