I did not hear the tree come down at all. Right now someone is paid to be at the scene, apparently with his own snowplow truck, to advise people not to drive any further. Or in the case of pedestrians, to go around the house.
Apparently the force of the sproing when the tree fell was enough to snap the telephone pole at the end of the local line (third picture).
Update 4 pm. NStar is on the case! They parked a van in front of the tree and are currently doing nothing. I remember this is pretty much how they handled our power outage with Irene.
Second update: Crews worked with heavy machinery until 1 am Thursday and got power back for Taft Avenue. The felled wires are still being fixed.
