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Trees and lines were reported down across the county.

Powerful Storm Rips Through the Berkshires

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A powerful storm ripped through the Berkshires on Wednesday afternoon leaving downed trees and wires in its wake. 

 
The line of thunderstorms hit the region around 4 p.m. hail, wind and rain for an intense 15 or 20 minutes. 
 
Downed lines along Massachusetts Avenue in North Adams and Cold Spring Road in Williamstown left more than 1,500 National Grid customers without power. The utility also reported were scattered outages around the county, including Florida Mountain and South Berkshire. 
 
Eversource reported nearly 33,000 customers affected in Western Massachusetts, including more than 2,500 in Dalton and and more than 4,000 in Pittsfield. 
 
There reports of fire alarms going off, power outages, trees on cars or in the road and downed wires around the county. In North Adams, Massachusetts Avenue Extension was closed for a downed power line and debris -- small and medium-sized limbs -- were scattered along sidewalks and roadways. There were also reports of trees down and power out at Windsor Lake and Rich Street. 
 
The biggest hit was taken by Mingo's restaurant at Greylock Bowl & Golf when the new canopy over the restaurant's deck was ripped from the building. 
 
In Adams, one of the tiny houses at B&B Micro-Manufacturing tipped over and tree limbs came down on the houses and cars around the building. A large limb also came down on Crotteau Street, closing the road, and trees were down along Summer Street. One resident on Summer posted an image of a tree in their smashed above-ground pool. 
 
There were also reports in Pittsfield of more downed trees behind Allendale Shopping Center and a trees across roads in Lanesborough and Hancock. 
 
The National Weather Service in Albany, N.Y., had posted a severe thunderstorm warning for the region, saying the storm had created winds of 50 to 55 mph as it moved through central New York. A wind advisory is in effect for the Berkshires, eastern New York, Southern Vermont and and northwestern Connecticut until 2 a.m. Thursday. 

Tags: bad weather,   

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Q&A with State Representative Challenger Andrew Fitch

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — On Sept. 1, voters in the First Berkshire District will decide whether they want to send a new representative to Beacon Hill in Boston.
 
Andrew Fitch, currently a city councilor in the district's largest municipality — and the commonwealth's smallest city — is challenging former North Adams Mayor John Barrett III, who won the First Berkshire seat in a 2017 special election, in the Democratic Party primary.
 
There is no Republican on the primary ballot for the First Berkshire seat so the primary will effectively be the election for the seat. 
 
The two candidates met for their only debate on Aug. 13 at Williams College. iBerkshires.com reached out to both candidates to follow up on some of the points raised in the debate and get their thoughts on some other issues facing the district.
 
Below are excerpts from a conversation with challenger Andrew Fitch:
 
Question: From the very beginning, you talked about the campaign as a listening experience, and this week you're continuing that with the bike tour …
 
Andrew Fitch: Knocking on doors that have never been knocked on before. … I was riding through, I believe it was Hinsdale coming into Windsor, and they started to yell at me, 'No!' And then the guy was like, 'Wait a second. That's Andrew Fitch.' They actually knew who I was, and they were actually wanting to chat with me.
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