Westporters recover from the damage

After a weekend of violent winds and rain, the sun shines on Park Lane with the distinct smell of fresh pine permeating the neighborhood. As of Wednesday, most of the homes in the neighborhood had electricity back after the violent storm left a majority of the town in the dark. Still, some large, expensive problems persist for many homeowners.

The problems are trees.

While various employees of the town, state and Connecticut Light & Power have worked to clear the splintered trees blocking roadways and obstructing destroyed power lines, residents have to take care of the trees in their yards through their own means. Removing tons of wood doesn't come cheaply, either.

On Park Lane, the devastating conditions led to the death of Jennifer Thibault of Long Valley, N.J., after a tree fell on her car, and to the destruction of a fire truck when a tree landed on the truck's 95-foot ladder. Private tree removal services were out in full force on Wednesday to take care of the damage throughout the neighborhood.

Gunvald Moen's yard looks like a battlefield. Large toppled pines -- he estimates 10 or so -- fell all over his yard. A tree removal company was taking care of the $10,000 problem on Wednesday and the former Air Force pilot is ensuring that it doesn't happen again.

"Now, I'm getting them all cut down," he said.

Insurance doesn't cover the removal. Last year, while he was on vacation, a tree fell on his home and caused $30,000 in damage. That damage was covered by his insurance, and after it happened, he had the trees closest to the house removed. This move protected his house from sustaining any damage this year, but things ended up costly enough.

Since the weekend, the phone has been ringing non-stop at TLC Tree Service in Norwalk. There's a backlog of work to be done, and Kim Risolo, an employee of the company, said people are starting to get agitated even though the TLC Tree Service, like other companies, is swamped with requests.

"Everybody is out there with a chainsaw," she said. "If you have a chainsaw, you're busy."

The numbers of trees that fell on the road is difficult to determine since there were a variety of crews clearing the trees, and Deputy Chief Jonathan Gottfried said there were "plenty of them." There was also in excess of 100 utility poles that fell down.

While reimbursement for some might be possible, the conditions are stringent. Throughout Westport, 27 homes were damaged by falling trees according to fire department estimates. If 100 homes in the state have been severely damaged and not covered by insurance, then federal money can pay up to $29,900 for losses, according to sources in Connecticut Department of Emergency Management & Homeland Security. The amount of uninsured damages to Westport homes is uncertain.

On a municipal level, 75 percent of the costs for dealing with the storm can be reimbursed through federal funds if a threshold of $2.8 million in damage through Fairfield County is reached, or if there is $4.3 million statewide. Municipalities have a Monday deadline for sending in damage estimates, and a spokesperson for the Department of Emergency Management said once all the information is received then a decision will be made on whether to seek out federal reimbursement.

These options still leave people with trees in their yards. Their options are limited to paying for removal or leaving the trees as is.

"If the wind damages the structure or if a tree falls [on it], that would be covered," said Dawn McDaniel, spokesperson for the Connecticut Insurance Department. "But if it just falls in your yard, that isn't covered."

Homeowners have received some relief from the town, however. Fees have been waived at the Bayberry Lane Yard Waste Site until Saturday.

On Crescent Road, Dottie Keston considers herself lucky that the house and vehicle weren't damaged at all. A massive tree fortuitously fell between her family's home and their van.

"It was huge," she said, uncertain of the exact size and species of the tree. "It was very large."

The bill came to $1,000, and while it was costly, she'd rather have to pay that than deal with heavy insurance-covered damage.

"We can't complain about that because we don't know what kind of damage it could have done," she said.

On Thursday morning, the tree removal company arrived somewhat unexpectedly at 7 a.m. to take care of the tree. According to Keston, she was told by the workers that their schedule was so busy that they had to show up at the first chance they had.