Gov. Deval L. Patrick visited Sunday to continue to examine tornado damage.
Jean Mitchell of Arcadia Blvd., left, gets a hug from outreach volunteer Elizabeth Cardona, center, also of Springfield, as Mitchell thanks and relates her tornado experience to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick at an informal press conference at Roosevelt Ave. and Island Pond Rd., one of the stops on the Governor's tour of Springfield's devastation.
Looking down his side yard, Alan Smith predicted it would have taken him all day to clear a quarter of the path and months to clear the back yard of the ancient oaks that fell during Wednesday’s tornadoes.
Instead, a squadron of police officers from the Boston area armed with chain saws and a small Bobcat tractor cleared his Agnes Street back yard in an hour and then moved onto another home in the East Forest Park neighborhood.
“I have nothing but five stars for them,” Smith, a retired firefighter, said.
Four days after a tornado ripped through parts of Springfield, West Springfield, Westfield, Monson, Wilbraham and Brimfield, residents are trying to reclaim anything they owned and rebuild.
Gov. Deval L. Patrick made his third trip to the city Sunday, visiting a command center and walking through East Forest Park.
There are financial assistance programs also set up for small business owners, and the state unemployment assistance department will help those who lost their jobs because of the tornado, he said.
“We’ve had folks going door-to-door in the affected neighborhoods just letting people know that there are resources here for information,” he said.
Patrick expressed gratitude to all the workers and volunteers who have “stepped up.”
The emergency assistance center the governor visited was established by the state Department of Transitional Assistance at 95 Liberty St. It will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. while cleanup and recovery efforts continue.
Patrick, area congressmen and Mayor Domenic J. Sarno have been pushing for assistance but have to wait for Federal Emergency Management Agency officials to assess the damage to ensure it is heavy enough to warrant federal disaster assistance.
That is expected to take about two weeks, Thomas T. Walsh, spokesman for Sarno, said.
Residents of the hardest-hit areas say that help is essential.
“This city will lay down on its back without the help of the federal government,” said Michael Carney, an East Forest Park resident and Springfield Police officer.
Members of the Boston area’s Irish American Police Officers Association, inspired by a deputy police superintendent who grew up in the neighborhood, decided to drive the two hours to Springfield to see what they could do to help.
“This weekend was a tough time to mobilize with graduations, but eight of us came out, said Kevin M. Shea, a sergeant with the Belmont police and president of the Irish association.
The crew arrived in Springfield at about 8 a.m. and was joined by several local volunteers, including East Longmeadow Police Chief Douglas Mellis and Ryan Cuimby, East Longmeadown’s information technology director.
The group of about a dozen stopped at least 15 houses in the about nine hours, Shea said.
“One woman we spoke to off Arcadia said she got a quote of $7,500 to remove a tree, it was on her roof. We took it down for nothing,” Shea said.
The team moved from spot to spot, removing trees from roofs and driveways.
“We went to one place and helped someone who couldn’t get a car out of the driveway. When we heard the next neighbor was an elderly woman, we helped her too and across the street there was a guy with one little chain saw, with little kids and we cut up a tree into small lengths,” Mellis said.
Driving through the neighborhood, Springfield Police Officers Carney and Capt. Robert T. McFarlin said they talked to the crews and offered suggestions to where they could help: There was a former judge’s house, a past police commissioner needed assistance, a retired police lieutenant had half a tree on his house and many were regular citizens.
The officers and Mellis all live in the neighborhood and were said they felt lucky to have the tornado miss their homes. Many other current and retired police and firefighters also own homes in the area that was among the hardest hit by the tornadoes.
“In New England, you don’t expect this. We are used to blizzards,” McFarlin said. “You can’t imagine the destruction.”
McFarlin pointed to one home that was flattened on Arcadia Street, near the Smith’s home. He said he would ride his bike there and admire the house.
The Smiths lost large oak trees from their property and shingles from their roof, and were still sweeping up glass from many broken windows. The cleaning crew that was augmented by their grandson and a few of his friends, made it easier, Virginia Smith said.
“It is just overwhelming. Really overwhelming,” she said.
The city will give tornado victims priority when it comes to inspection services, and its housing department has been activated to assist people who need housing. Already some apartment owners have called to report vacancies, Walsh said.
Schools are opening again after being closed Thursday and Friday. But students from Elias Brookings and Dryden will not be able to return because of damage to their schools.
Most of the power has been restored to homes, but many in East Forest Park did not get electricity back until Saturday night or Sunday morning. There are also still some sporadic outages.
About 245 people were staying at the emergency shelter that had been moved Sunday from Central High School back to the MassMutual Center, which was used as a shelter on Wednesday. In between, those were left homeless were also housed in the Greenleaf Community Center, which was too small to handle all of the displaced.
The Pioneer Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross is providing cots and food and giving referrals to those seeking help, said Richard Knight, sheltering manager, who came from Connecticut to assist.
Families staying at the MassMutual Center Sunday night said it has been difficult to keep moving from place-to-place. Marisol Lozada fell and broke her arm during one move and a 92-year-old woman had a stroke during a second, officials said.
“We need to stay in one place. I cannot sleep, I just wake up,” Lozada said.
Lozada said she lost her duplex at 15-17 Searle Place during the storm. At least two trees went through the house while her six children, aged 15, 13,10,7, 4 and 6 months, were cowering in the basement with her sister and sister-in-law who live on the other side of the duplex.
Carmen Rodriguez said she lived on the first floor of 452 Central St., which was destroyed. Moving from shelter to shelter has been especially difficult for her because she uses a wheelchair.
A neighbor saved her life. She was sitting on the porch when the tornado came through. He pushed over her chair and dragged her inside by her arms.
“I lost my walker, my clothing my money,” she said.
In West Springfield, about 120 people are staying in the two shelters at the Coburn Elementary School and West Springfield Middle School. Two people in that city died, and about eight to nine homes will have to be torn down, Mayor Edward J. Gibson said.
“We have another 30 homes that will be habitable once they are repaired,” he said. “We are working to get people into their homes when they can.”
Most of the streets in West Springfield and Westfield have been cleared and opened. The south end of Main Street in Springfield remained closed until buildings that are in danger of collapsing can be removed or repaired.
In Westfield, most of the out-of-down crews from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and others are expected to leave by Monday. Emergency repairs to Munger Hill Elementary School will allow it to reopen, Mayor Daniel Knapik said.
“We lost three to five homes and there are damage to over 100,” he said.
Republican reporter Brian Steele contributed to this story.