Residents survey the damage after tornado touches down in Mansfield and North Attleboro
MANSFIELD - Communities in Mansfield and North Attleboro are picking up the pieces after an EF-1 tornado ripped through neighborhoods.
In all, neighbors said it felt like it happened in a flash, but the damage is long-lasting.
"You think it's not going to happen to you, and then it does," said Tom Copeland whose house was damaged by a fallen tree. "It's just kind of surreal because it was so fast."
The storm was rolling through when Ava Francis was recording video, then all of a sudden, a towering tree fell 30 feet and crashed onto her sister's boyfriend's car.
"I was shocked," said Francis. "But I was like, 'I'm glad it's not my car,' but I felt so bad because he was just about to leave for work, and I had to go break the news, so I was like, 'this is not good.'"
The same tree toppled onto the Copelands' garage while they were hunkering down inside.
The garage was left covered with a blue tarp where water gushed in.
"All of a sudden, the wind came up and I saw a limb come down from one of the trees in the backyard and then I heard and felt the house shake," said Copeland.
The tornado continued its furious path around the corner. The force uprooted two trees, throwing them onto the Driscolls' house and scattering branches all over their yard. Luckily, the family huddled together until the storm passed, but crews had their work cut out for them after the fact. Maureen Driscoll said she was on her way to work when her husband warned her a storm was on the horizon.
"It's just crazy times. This weather has been insane, we got the alert on our phone which was huge," said Driscoll.
The twister twisted trees in half and even landed on a baseball field in the neighborhood.
It then bounced over eight miles to North Attleboro where it took down trees around a home.
The extensive damage is shocking, but neighbors are thankful no one was hurt.
"All of this is replaceable," said Driscoll. "It's very shocking to come and see all this, it's years of work, and it's our home."
"I'm grateful and it'll be fine," said Copeland.
