9 Years After Snowtober, Tree Still Causing Concern In Vernon

VERNON, CT — Nine years after being heavily damaged during the infamous "Snowtober" blizzard, a tree on Center Road in Vernon is still causing headaches.

A combination of Vernon Department of Public Works staffers and a a private arbor contractor had a busy Tuesday morning trimming the troublesome tree.

The tree, thought to be in trouble after the epic storm, had actually grown enough to threaten wires and begin to hang over part of the road.

The position of the work crew was eerily similar to that of 2011. The tree sits on a tricky, hilly curve on a road that drivers of large trucks are advised not to use.

The powerful storm blew in on Oct. 28, 2011 and a large portion of the tree fell onto that curve. With a foot a slushy, heavy snow already on the pavement, it wreaked havoc on the heavily traveled road that connects routes 30 and 83. For about two days, emergency crews, forgetting the large limb was still strews across the road, had to make U-turns on nearby Crestridge Drive.

In all, power was out for about two weeks in the area after the storm, and, to this day, the neighborhood is notorious for outages.

The tree has always been one to watch.

Here it was in 2011:

Snowtober of 2011. (Chris Dehnel/Patch)