TILTON – A microburst from a powerful thunderstorm that crossed through the Lakes Region Wednesday night caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to houses and parked cars on Hill Road.

Police Chief Robert Cormier said police have been informed by the National Weather Service that a microburst struck a small area off of Route 3 on Hill Road shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday night

A microburst is a short-lived pattern of intense winds that descends from rain clouds, hits the ground, and fans out horizontally, and can have winds of up to 150 miles per hour, according to the weather service.

Cormier said the burst damaged 15-20 vehicles that were parked in the parking lot of the Water's Edge Condominium and in surrounding driveways of the small lakeside village of houses on Hill Road.

“When you see the damage that was done out there, it's remarkable that no one was hurt,” he said. “It could have been much worse.”

Year-round and summer residents in this part of Tilton and across the bridge in a hard-hit section of Belmont were asked to evacuate overnight by local firefighters because of the danger of exposed power lines. Utility poles and power lines were on the ground in several areas, and though power company repair crews were called, the safety of residents was of concern, said Tilton Fire Department Capt. Timothy Joubert.

Only two of the residents left, however, as most chose to stay in their homes, though the power was out in the area.

“There were lines down everywhere (Wednesday night), and we weren't sure how many or if any of the lines were live. In that situation, you have to treat every wire as a live wire,” Joubert said. “For safety reasons we tried to evacuate the residents but most decided to stay.”

The roads to both areas were still closed Thursday morning as crews continued to remove debris and untangle power and phone lines that lay strewn over roads and lawns.

The worst-hit home belongs to Larry and Sylvia Rivers, whose home was all but destroyed by the top half of a tall pine tree that cracked and landed on their living room roof.

The house is a total loss, and will cost at least $150,000 to replace, Larry Rivers said.

Coincidentally, Rivers said he was sitting in his living room, watching the storm approach on a weather forecast, when the lightning crack struck and the tree fell on the roof above him.

“It knocked me right out of my chair,” he said.

His wife was in the kitchen, watching as the ceiling sunk.

“It was awful,” she said. “I didn't know what was going on, the ceiling fell in the living room, I didn't realize what was happening.”

The Rivers, who also lost two cars to falling trees, stayed in the main building at Water's Edge overnight. The Salvation Army is putting them up in a local hotel, Sylvia Rivers said.

Neighbors said they felt lucky that the tree missed them. Mike Droney, three houses down the road, said he heard a big “boom” as trees fell around him. He and his wife chose to stay in their home overnight.

“I wasn't going anywhere unless it was a real emergency,” he said.

Cormier said power crews were working to restore electricity in on Hill Road, but no time has been given for when it will be restored.

dseufert@newstote.com