Winds knock down trees, cause damage along coast

REVERE, Mass. (WHDH) -- A building in Revere was in danger of collapsing after Wednesday night’s storm.

A bulldozer was rushed in to help keep one of the walls of an old body shop on North Shore Road secure. High winds blew out one of the walls.

“The building is compromised because it’s rotted at the bottom, and the wind got into it and this panel of building was just hanging over the street,” said James Morando, The Total Group Demolition. “That piece would have been blown across the highway [if the bulldozer wasn’t holding it up].”

A powerful gust of wind also blew over a huge semi trailer in the building's parking lot.

State police shut down Route 1A southbound in Revere for several hours while they inspected the structure.

In Dorchester, a tree was ripped from the ground and smashed into an ambulance responding to a call.

“Next thing you know, it sounded like someone had rear ended us almost,” said Peter Spinelli. “But once the compartment started crushing and everything else, I knew it was a lot more than that.”

The strong winds knocked down tree in Roxbury, landing on another car and blocking a street.

Nearby, a giant billboard crashed down on a used car lot. Cranes were brought in to remove the twisted metal.

And in Peabody, several utility poles were blown down, taking power lines with them causing some 900 customers to lose their electricity.

The wild weather caught a lot of people off guard.