METHUEN, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Methuen was hit hard by strong winds and rains that came racing in and out of the city in a matter of 15 minutes.
The west end of Methuen was hit the hardest; the severe weather left trees in the middle of the road, on top of roofs, and cars.
"When it started raining I called my son to go inside the house, heavy rain. Less than a minute, I hear, we hear a crash. Looked through the window, it was the tree falling on top of our car," resident Mario Torres said.
And with that, the red Honda SUV Torres just had tuned up was flattened by a tree. Torres had expected his Fourth of July to go out with a bang, but not like this. At least he's keeping his wits about him.
âIt's a CRV, crushed red vehicle,â he said.
That's not all Mother Nature did to the west end of Methuen. A roof in Methuen was ripped right off a car dealership, while workers were there.
"I was here with one of my guys and rain and rain and it got dark," Harry Casillas said.
Casillas says it got so dark that he could barely see, and he wondered if a tornado might be coming. So he ran into the building for cover, but even that turned out to be little protection.
"We closed the door, we got inside and we see the roof coming off the shop and it was scary," he said.
Just down the road on quiet Emery Street, residents have roof problems as well, but some, like Linda Brody, say that can be fixed. She's just grateful she and her elderly mother escaped without injury.
"And all of the sudden it came up so quickly and so violently and I ran with my mom ran to the other side of the house in the bathroom and all I heard was this crashing and banging," Brody said.
However, within a matter of 10 minutes the storm was gone, although the damage was not. That put the Methuen Police Department into high gear. They had to call in extra officers to keep people away from all the downed trees and lines.
The Methuen police chief said he hasnât seen anything like this for a long time. He says theyâve seen "microbursts, but not with this significant amount of damage."
Take a look at photos of other local damage here.