MEMA To Tour Areas In Western & Central Mass. Hit By Severe Storms
WILBRAHAM (CBS) - Thousands of people are in the dark Wednesday morning after severe storms ripped through Western and Central Massachusetts on Tuesday.
The severe weather killed one person, an 85-year-old man who hit a fallen tree in Hinsdale.
Trees in several towns were splintered as the storms caused damage in several communities.
There was no confirmed tornado touchdown, but many people said they saw a funnel clouds spinning in the sky.
DAMAGE IN WILBRAHAM, OTHER AREAS
Powerful rain, wind, lightning and hail ravaged Wilbraham neighborhoods, bringing down trees and tree limbs, which banged up a lot of cars and came dangerously close to homes.
WBZ-TV's Sera Congi reports.
Power was knocked out and yards and lawns were littered with debris.
No one was hurt in Wilbraham.
Meanwhile, in Holyoke, winds reached 70 miles per hour. Those speeds were too much for a massive industrial building. The high winds knocked a giant "U" shape in the building where it collapsed right in the middle.
MEMA CREWS TO TOUR AREAS HIT BY SEVERE WEATHER
Work crews from MEMA are set to tour the damage Wednesday morning.
WBZ-TV's Alana Gomez reports.
MEMA officials said the damage from Tuesday's storms is nothing like the storms on June 1, but they'll still be out surveying the hardest hit towns and trying to help storm victims.
"This morning, we expect probably a half a dozen communities will have some MEMA personnel working with local officials assessing what the damage is, what assistance, if any immediate assistance is needed, so we'll have a better grasp on what exactly came down yesterday afternoon," MEMA's Peter Judge told WBZ NewsRadio 1030.
Just hours before those violent storms, Gov. Deval Patrick toured a community hit hard by that devastating tornado six weeks ago. He met with Sturbridge residents to see how their recovery is going.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Lana Jones reports.
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Although there were no confirmed reports of tornadoes Tuesday, the National Weather Service will also be out on Wednesday looking at the damage to make sure.
