Thunderstorms roll through region

(Essdras Suarez/Globe Staff)

Mark Parsons of Newton talks to a neighbor today after a tree fell on top of his house off Albemarle Road.

By Kate Augusto and Matt Collette, Globe Correspondents, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

A series of thunderstorms rolled across the state this afternoon, including a violent cloudburst that dumped about two-thirds of an inch of rain in 20 minutes in metropolitan Boston, causing flash floods, pelting pedestrians with pea-sized hail, and uprooting trees with wind gusts near 50 miles per hour.

Lightning strikes started at least two fires, including a bolt that sounded "like an enormous whip" when it crashed into a seven-story building on the 200 block of Beacon Street in Back Bay, according to resident Sergio Coelho, 46.

Four firefighters were taken to hospitals -- two for minor burns, two for heat exhaustion -- after battling the two-alarm blaze, which broke out at about 2:50 p.m. The penthouse unit was on fire when firefighters arrived on the scene.

Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald said the fire resulted in $5 million in damage.

Lightning also ignited a smoky blaze on Pearl Street in Cambridge, where Liz Lapuh lives on the first floor of a three-family home. "It was just a very loud crash … very loud and very bright," Lapuh said. Officials said the two-alarm fire caused roughly $250,000 in damage.

The Coast Guard, Environmental Police, Massport, and the State Police dispatched boats when eight sailboats with 57 people aboard from the Piers Park Sailing Center signaled that they were in distress during the storm, said Petty Officer Lauren Jorgensen, a Coast Guard spokeswoman.

No one was injured, though some people had to be transferred to the State Police boat and taken to shore, Jorgensen said.

Two sailboats, part of a fleet of campers returning from an end-of-the week trip to Spectacle Island, were blown off course towards Logan Airport and capsized, said Mat Rosa, executive director of the sailing center.

“They all did great. Everybody did exactly as they’re supposed to," Rosa said. "As the kids were getting off the boats, meeting their parents, they were smiling and said they had a lot of fun.”

There were reports of downed trees hitting cars on Columbia Road in Boston and in Watertown. On Albemarle Street in Newton, the wind toppled part of a 60- to 70-foot tree that crashed onto power lines, said resident Joe Smiroldo, who lives nearby.

"It was thunder and lightning and heavy rain like I haven’t seen, and I’ve lived in Newton for 50 years," Smiroldo said.

A torrent of rain hit Copley Square at 2:30 p.m., scattering pedestrians who ran for cover in the main branch of the Boston Public Library. Dripping with rainwater, dozens of people stood watching the storm in the shelter of the library's entrance on Dartmouth Street as the wind bent trees outside. Others waited in the entrance to the Green Line, standing at the top of the stairs to the T station.

Trees and wires were reported down in Haverhill later in the afternoon, as a second storm pummeled the area.

"Everything's kind of winding down right now, thank God," National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Simpson said this evening.

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