The tornado that struck Springfield is the 2nd strongest in state history.
SPRINGFIELD - The tornado that ripped through Springfield was the second strongest ever recorded in Massachusetts, with wind speeds estimated at 136 to 165 mph, an official with the National Weather Service said Friday.
Meteorologist Eleanor Vallier-Talbot said preliminary investigations show that in areas hardest hit, the tornado was estimated as an EF-3 on the Enhanced Fujita Damage Classification Scale.
The scale classifies tornadoes on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the most intense. The tornado that flattened Joplin, Mo., last month was considered an EF-5, with winds in excess of 200 mph.
The highest rating recorded for a Massachusetts hurricane was one that struck Worcester in July 1953, which was an EF-4, Vallier-Talbot said.
But she cautioned that the numbers for the Springfield tornado are preliminary figures.
“It could possibly go higher,” she said.
The National Weather Service has determined there were actually three separate tornadoes. The most severe one was the EF-3 that carved a half-mile-wide path for 39 miles from Westfield to Charlton, killing four people and injuring 200.
An EF-1 with speeds of 90 mph touched down in Wilbraham. It was 200 yards wide and traveled 3.6 miles. Another EF-1 touched down in North Brimfield. It was 100 yards wide and traveled 1.3 miles. Those two did not cause any fatalities or injuries.
Vallier-Talbot, who has been with the National Weather Service for 26 years, never thought she would see tornado damage like this in Massachusetts.
“It was unbelievable. I never thought I would see that up here in my life,” she said.
Area communities damaged by the storm continued digging out on Friday.
In Springfield, most roads blocked by downed trees and power lines have reopened, and the rest will reopen shortly, officials said at a Friday afternoon press conference. The majority of houses without electric power have been brought back on line, and the projection is the remainder will have power within a few days.
“It’s not yet 48 hours and we’re moving out of the triage phase and into the stabilization phase,” Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said.
The phase after stabilization, he said, is rebuilding, which is still a ways off.
Sarno said the city will use all of its available resources for recovery and is seeking additional state and federal assistance.
“We’re going to spend every dime we have on this, and I’m going to go after every dime from the federal government and state,” he said. “We’re turning over every stone, and we’ll do what he have to do.”
Most of the approximately 3,500 Western Massachusetts Electric Co. customers who remain without power in the East Forest Park and Sixteen Acres neighborhoods should see it restored sometime Friday night, a spokeswoman said.
WMECO spokesman Edgar Alejandro said the utility has restored service to 15,000 in Springfield.
It was not simply a matter of downed lines, he said. “It required us to rebuild our system, not just repair it,” he said.
In areas that were heavily hit, such as East Forest Park, the storm tore out the backbone of the electrical grid. “We had to rebuild that backbone,” he said.
National Grid, meanwhile, hopes to be able to restore power by midnight to the approximately 4,500 East Longmeadow customers who have been in the dark since the tornado and intense thunderstorms ripped through the region Wednesday afternoon.
“Our crews are diligently working on the transmission system and they are looking at midnight,” said Debbie Drew, spokeswoman for National Grid. All told, some 9,000 National Grid customers remain without power in Hampden and Worcester counties, Drew said.
Springfield Building Commissioner Steven Desilets said inspection teams are continuing their assessment of damaged properties.
So far, they have found 168 buildings that sustained a “high degree of damage” including 72 that were condemned because they were beyond repair.
Ten residential properties and 5 commercial buildings that were condemned have been taken down already because they were considered an immediate threat to public safety
In the coming days, work crews will go through city neighborhoods to pick up tree and branch debris placed on the tree belts and along the edge of the street on residential properties.
Residents are also being asked to separate tree debris from building materials. Movable building materials placed on tree belts and along the edge of streets will also be transported by the city. Residents are encouraged to place their building material debris in 35-gallon barrels or trash bags.
The city is working with Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency to have members of the National Guard assist elderly and disabled residents with the cleanup in affected areas.
Springfield Health Director Helen Caulton-Harris said the city will be closing its shelter at Greenleaf Community Center on Parker Street in Sixteen Acres. The shelter had 24 people on Thursday night.
The other emergency shelter at Cathedral High School had 78 families. They can remain until Sunday, at which time a new shelter location will be needed because school is scheduled to resume on Monday.
City Housing Director Geraldine McCafferty said the long-term goal is to find permanent housing options. She asked landlords with vacancies to contact her office so they could begin matching people with vacant rooms.
Students from Cathedral High School and St. Michael’s Academy Middle School will finish the year at new locations due to serious tornado damage that occurred on Wednesday.
As communities continued their cleanup efforts, various elected officials have pledged to get state and federal aid for the region.
U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, who donned a pair of sneakers Friday to tour damaged areas in Springfield, said he has been in contact with the White House and with state and federal agencies. Neal spoke with Gov. Deval L. Patrick soon after the tornadoes hit, and has traveled with the officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
Meanwhile, state legislators including House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo pledged Friday to assist Springfield and area communities in recovering from Wednesday’s tornadoes that wreaked havoc and devastation across the region.
DeLeo and a dozen area legislators gathered at Court Square in downtown Springfield to pledge their support
“We are going to be there for the city,” DeLeo said. “My role here today is to send a message to the people of Springfield that the state is a partner.”
State Senate President Therese Murray was in West Springfield on Friday, and she called on the federal government to declare an emergency to help direct federal money to the area.
“The president needs to act immediately,” the Plymouth Democrat said during a press conference Friday morning from a command post in West Springfield’s Merrick neighborhood, which has sustained massive damage.
Murray said the state senate will do “whatever it takes” to assist when it convenes in formal session next week.
More than 20 Red Cross volunteers from around New England and elsewhere have come to the city to help deal with the effects of the tornado, said Richard A. Lee, executive director of the Pioneer Valley chapter of the American Red Cross.
“It’s thrilling. I have to tell you, it’s like the cavalry arriving,” Lee said.
Also, he said, eight local Red Cross members who had traveled to help tornado victims in Joplin, Mo., and Tennessee have returned to help in Western Massachusetts.
In Springfield, classes will resume on Monday. School officials said the two missed school days on Thursday and Friday after the tornado will not have to be made up, unlike snow days in the winter.
Two schools that were damaged, Dryden and Brookings, will remain closed and students will be sent to open spaces in other schools, officials said. The city hopes to make repairs on the two buildings in time for the new school year in September.
“We got 12 days left of school; this is what we are dealing with,” said School Department Chief Operations Officer Henry Figuerido.
Cathedral High School students will resume classes on Tuesday at Elms College in Chicopee, said Mark Dupont, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.
St. Michael’s Academy Middle School, which is located within the Cathedral complex, will relocate on Tuesday to space being provided at Western New England College, and finish the school year there, Dupont said.
Additional details were not immediately available.
There was serious damage at Cathedral, including to the school's science wing, a gymnasium wall, and windows.
In a letter issued today to be read at all weekend Masses, Springfield Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell urged prayers and sought help in response to this past Wednesday’s devastating tornadoes and storms.
“First of all, I ask for prayers – prayers for those who died in the storm, for those injured, for those who lost homes or businesses, for those whose lives were upended by the tornadoes,” McDonnel wrote. “I ask prayers of thanksgiving as well for those who rushed to help: police, firefighters, emergency workers, medical personnel, National Guard, and all those volunteers who gave of themselves so unstintingly and continue to do so in the storm’s aftermath. God bless them.”
There will be a special collection to raise donations for local relief efforts and a collection of household and personal items to assist people whose belongings were destroyed.
Beginning next Tuesday and continuing until July 7, the diocesan Catholic Charities Agency will accept items at St. Francis Chapel, 254 Bridge St., each Tuesday and Thursday from 3-6 p.m. Those wishing to donate and those seeking to receive items are asked to call (413) 452-0605 beforehand.
The Monson High School graduation, postponed because of the tornado, has been rescheduled to Wednesday at 6 p.m. The ceremony will be held outdoors at Granite Valley Middle School. The date was announced during a community meeting Friday at Quarry Hill School.
In Westfield, officials announced that Munger Hill Elementary School, closed Thursday and Friday because of roof damage from the tornado, will reopen Monday for its 376 students.
The New England Synod, which is having an assembly this weekend at the MassMutual Center, will run a food drive for the victims of the tornado. The New England Synod is a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The assembly is at the center through Sunday. Officials of the group are asking people to drop off non-perishable goods at the entrance at the corner of Main Street and Falcons Way.
Reporters Peter Goonan, George Graham, Mike Plaisance, Sandy Constantine and Ted LaBorde contributed to this report.
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