DisastersDeadly tornado kills four in Massachusetts

Published 3 June 2011

On Wednesday, as many as seven tornadoes tore through Massachusetts resulting in the state’s first twister related deaths in sixteen years; the tornadoes touched down in the western and central part of the state, but hit Springfield, located ninety miles west of Boston, the hardest; more than forty people have been admitted to hospitals after sustaining injuries from the tornado and four people have been confirmed dead so far; emergency responders are currently picking through the wreckage to rescue any survivors trapped in the rubble

Tornadoes ravage Western Massacusseeets // Source: dailynewsen.com

In what is shaping up to be the deadliest tornado seasons in years, tornadoes have begun forming in areas usually safe from killer cyclones. On Wednesday, as many as seven tornadoes tore through Massachusetts resulting in the state’s first twister related deaths in sixteen years.

The tornadoes touched down in the western and central part of the state, but hit Springfield, located ninety miles west of Boston, the hardest. Springfield Mayor Dominic Sarno said that more than forty people had been admitted to hospitals after sustaining injuries from the tornado and that four people have been confirmed dead so far.

Emergency responders are currently picking through the wreckage to rescue any survivors trapped in the rubble.

The tornado ripped the roofs of many buildings on Springfield’s Main Street as it swept through downtown before heading across the Connecticut River.

Speaking on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said the state was lucky there had not been more deaths given how quickly the tornadoes had formed.

When I spoke with the mayor of Springfield yesterday, he told me they had about 10 minutes’ warning,” Patrick said. “When you consider how quickly the tornadoes developed and then touched down, the fact that there wasn’t even greater damage and loss of life is a remarkable thing.”

Peter Judge, an official with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency said, “It was obviously an incredible surprise. We’d been monitoring the weather all day, and by early afternoon nobody was overly concerned.”

According to the Storm Prediction Center, the last tornado to hit Massachusetts was in 2008 and the last deadly tornado was in 1995 when a tornado spun through Great Barrington killing three people.

On average, Massachusetts experiences two tornadoes a year, but strong deadly tornadoes tearing through cities like Springfield are rare.

Governor Patrick has declared a state of emergency and deployed 1,000 National Guardsmen to assist in the cleanup efforts.

Senator Scott Brown (R – Massachusetts) was schedule to tour the hardest hit areas on Thursday, and members of the state’s congressional delegation have said that they will seek federal assistance for the damaged areas.

So far 2011 has been a record year for tornadoes with more than 1,200 sweeping across the United States. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there were 875 confirmed tornadoes in April alone, smashing the previous record of 267 set in 1974.