THE DAMAGE - from 'what hurricane?' to 'what is that on my house?'

Trees and power lines were down throughout the city Sunday, as Department of Public Works employees raced around town to clean up the mess.

“We've had about 15 trees and about 20 electrical wires (fall), lights are out at Medford and Highland Ave, and we just had a car accident,” a hurried Malden Police Lt. Joseph Pontbriand reported.

Pontbriand, who had to cut his interview short to respond to calls, said that he was "short on manpower," and had only eight officers on the beat.

"When we have an electrical wire down across the street...or a tree about to crash into a house, they tie up the cruisers for 3 to 4 hours at a time," he said.

Reader George Chagnon snapped a photo of a tree that had fallen on top of some power lines near his home on Williams St.

He said that the power in his neighborhood had been out ever since.

Hundreds of Maldonians lose power:

About 651 people remain without power, according to the National Grid.

Debbie Drew, a spokesperson with the company, said that restoring power to over 300,000 residents of Middlesex County will “certainly be a multi-day effort.”

“Right now, crews are focusing on emergency calls,” she said. “We're also in the process of doing some damage assessment.” 

Efforts to restore power will “start just as soon as it's practical,” she said, adding crews still faced some inclement weather.

A tweet issued by the company said they sympathized with their customers and were working hard to tackle the effects of the storm.

City to resume services tomorrow:

City hall also released a statement advising residents that trash pickup would begin at 8 a.m. Monday.

Residents were asked to keep their trash inside until 6 a.m., to avoid winds blowing debris into the streets.

Most MBTA services are slated to resume their regular schedule Monday morning.