New England Sees Rare Tornado Outbreak That Leaves Four Dead
While there were some strong to severe thunderstorms in New Jersey, they didn’t pack the wallop that they had further north in Massachusetts. Some 19 communities from Westfield and Springfield to Sturbridge and Oxford in the east.
Two tornadoes ripped through the Southern portion of Massachusetts from I-90 to I-84. The severe weather even held together to roar through Boston as well as Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard. The most significant storm ripped through downtown Springfield, one of the largest cities in Massachusetts around the rush hour.
Live video of the storm was taken as it gained momentum. The storm moved across the Connecticut River, and damaged a number of buildings in the area. Roofs were ripped apart, tractor trailers and cars were flipped over, and trees were down. So far, four people have been killed including two in Springfield, one in Westfield, and one in Brooksfield.
The governor of Massachusetts has declared a state of emergency, and has called in some 1,000 National Guard troops to bring order to the area. Hundreds of homes are damaged, thousands of trees were downed, and thousands of residents were left without power. The storm, which left a trail of destruction that was about 17 miles long, has not officially been classified, but preliminary reports indicate that it was an EF2 twister on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
According to the Weather Channel, the storm was the first tornado in Massachusetts in almost three years. The strongest twister to ever occur in that state was an EF2 back in 1966. However, the deadliest outbreak occurred in almost the same area to the day back in 1953 when a tornado struck nearby Worcester. On average, two to three tornadoes touch down in Massachusetts per year.