4 reported dead after tornadoes in Mass.
We’re not in Kansas anymore. Tornadoes are not unheard of in New England but they are quite rare.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Tornadoes roared through Massachusetts on Wednesday, including its third-largest city, where debris slammed into buildings and startled workers and residents who were heading out for the evening commute.The storms killed at least four people throughout the state, though the governor said the death toll was preliminary.
The storm pulverized or sheared off the tops of roofs on Main Street in Springfield, a city of more than 150,000. A mounted video camera captured dramatic footage of a debris-filled funnel as it swept into downtown from the west, then crossed the Connecticut River.
Gov. Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency and called up 1,000 National Guardsmen after the storms, which brought scenes of devastation recently wreaked in the South and Midwest to a part of the country where such violent weather isn’t a way of life.
The Rev. Bob Marrone of The First Church of Monson said the storm cleared a view he’s never seen across the valley where the town sits.
“I can see the plywood of roofs, and see houses where most of the house is gone,” said Marrone, whose church’s steeple was knocked down. “The road that runs up in front of my house … There’s so many trees down, it’s completely impassable.”
Thomas Walsh, a spokesman for Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, told The Associated Press he was looking out his City Hall window around 4:30 p.m. when he saw the funnel.
“I could see this massive cloud of debris floating around in a circular, cylindrical fashion,” he said.
At least four people were killed from the storms, Patrick said. State police report 33 injuries in Springfield. Police said five of the injuries were reported serious and required surgery.
“It looked like birds were flying out of the trees and it was rubble,” said Martha Vachon of Photography by Duval of Palmer, who was photographing the Minnechaug Regional High School prom in downtown Springfield, which went on as planned.
Around 55,000 customers National Grid, Western Mass. Electric and Unitil were reportedly without power.
One of the tornadoes struck downtown Springfield, one of the state’s largest cities, on Wednesday afternoon, frightening workers and residents.
Margaret Alexander, 40, of Springfield, said she found sanctuary in a closet in her apartment during the tornado. After the storm passed she went outside and headed to the Mass Mutual Center on the advice of neighbors.
She and 15 family members — a sister, daughter, two grand-daughters and the family dog Sasha in a crate — were at the cavernous makeshift emergency shelter. “I’m just happy to be with my family and that everyone is safe,” Alexander said.