N.H. tornado traveled 40 miles

(David L. Ryan/Globe Staff)

Flattened trees surrounded one home in this picture taken Friday.

By Terri Schwartz, Globe Correspondent

The tornado that hit New Hampshire Thursday traveled 40 miles through 11 towns, creating a swath of destruction a third of a mile wide in some areas, while lifting off the ground and skipping over others, a National Weather Service expert said today after completing a review of the damage.

“Much of the damage across the state was trees down. Thousands and thousands of trees,” said John Jensenius, warning coordination meteorologist for the weather service's Gray, Maine office. He said it was a lucky thing that there wasn't more damage.

One person was killled in the storm in Deerfield, N.H. when her house collapsed. Six to 12 other houses collapsed and about 200 were damaged, said Jim Van Dongen, spokesman for the New Hampshire Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency.

Still, considering the force of the storm, which had winds estimated at up to 135 mph, “We’ve had a lot of fortunate people,” said Jensenius.

Three teams made up of federal and state agencies continue to clean up damage in the towns. The crews have been cutting down damaged trees and setting up new telephone poles to replace those that were downed by the storm, Van Dongen said.

Van Dongen said most families had been able to find shelter with friends or relatives and only two families had to stay in a Red Cross shelter overnight.

Joanne Randall, a selectwoman in the hard-hit town of Epsom, said a firefighter suffered a minor injury this morning in a cleanup accident.

She said people were "just happy to be alive" and it was "good to see a community pulling together."

One person, Brenda J. Stevens, 57, of Deerfield was killed when her house collapsed. She was found in the rubble of her house, along with her stepson's 3-month-old son, who she had been holding when the tornado hit. The baby miraculously survived, the Globe reported this morning.

The National Weather Service said the storm had hit Epsom, Deerfield, Northwood, Barnstead, Alton, New Durham, Wolfeboro, Ossipee, Effingham, Pittsfield, and Freedom.

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