Many roads are impassable in Monson.
One person was killed in the storm in Brimfield and a church and a number of homes were destroyed in Monson.
State police confirmed the death and said detectives are in Brimfield investigating. More information was not available immediately.
A pastor in Monson says his town has been walloped by an apparent tornado that took down his church’s steeple, while battering houses and uprooting massive trees.
The Rev. Bob Marrone of The First Church of Monson said roads are impassable after the storm struck late Wednesday afternoon.
The steeple fell, but Marrone said he’s more concerned about massive damage to homes in Monson, south of the Quabbin Reservoir
Marrone said when the storm hit, he and his wife took shelter in the first floor of their house, until breaking windows led them to flee to the basement.
He said he emerged to find nine of 10 oaks along his driveway down, one crab apple tree tossed 150 feet and devastation “360 degrees around us.”
In Brimfield, trees were downed along Route 20 and the Fire Department is weighing whether to close the roadway to traffic. Trees and other debris also blocked Hollow Road, and police closed Route 19 to traffic.
One man traveling along Route 20 said the wind had picked his sport-utility vehicle off the ground and moved it across the road.
Reports from the Associated Press were used in this story.