The city estimates that 1,000 structures and tens of thousands of trees were damaged.
The path of the tornado through Springfield.SPRINGFIELD – Robert Hassett, the city’s director of emergency preparedness, recalls a meeting with the City Council in late March when he listed some of the natural threats that could wreak havoc on Springfield, such as ice storms or major flooding.
Or a tornado, Hassett said, recalling that his last example triggered some chuckles in the room.
Just more than two months later, no one was chuckling about the prospects of a tornado hitting the city.
He says he never imagined the level of destruction that would strike Springfield on June 1, as a tornado swept through the heart of the city in a matter of minutes and with little warning.
The city estimates that 1,000 structures and tens of thousands of trees were damaged. The city condemned 171 buildings, and an additional 22 structures were demolished by emergency order.
The city continues to recover and stabilize from the tornado and its aftermath, and has taken some initial steps for the future rebuilding phase, local officials said last week. Federal disaster aid – authorized under a Major Federal Disaster Declaration issued by President Barack Obama on Wednesday – is crucial to the recovery, officials said.
City officials say they’ve been awed by the generosity and cooperation they have seen among the many agencies, organizations, city departments and individuals, all working to help victims since tornadoes struck Springfield and many other communities in Hampden and Worcester counties.
“The response has been overwhelming,” Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said. “Everybody has turned up their game, and I’m not surprised.”
“I am just overwhelmed by the way people have come together, especially helping each other out,” Hassett said.
It ranges from college students and neighbors lending help in backyards, to churches and other organizations distributing clothing, food and supplies.
It was the worst tornado to strike Massachusetts since 1953 when a tornado struck Worcester, resulting in 94 deaths and 10,000 homeless.
The June 1 tornadoes that struck Western Massachusetts resulted in four deaths, but none in Springfield. Many others were injured.
Hundreds of buildings were damaged, including heavy damage in the South End, Six Corners, Old Hill and East Forest Park neighborhoods. Main Street in the South End was closed to traffic for more than a week after the tornado, fully reopening on Tuesday.
The damage, ranging from leveled houses to severed trees, showed the true strength of the storm, Hassett said.
Municipal expenses could reach $94.2 million which includes an estimate of $63 million to rebuild the Dryden and Brookings elementary schools that were seriously damaged and other city properties, officials said. The city is seeking federal disaster aid and state aid to help cover its expenses, including the schools and various department expenses such as overtime, supplies and infrastructure. Some estimates are that the regional rebuilding effort could take 18 to 24 months.
More than 13,000 people were left without power in Springfield, most restored within 74 hours.
“It wasn’t just restoration,” Hassett said. “It was reconstruction.”
Sarno said that he knows the city and its landscape “like the back of my hand .¤.¤. every nook and cranny.”
“If you didn’t know the city, it would be unrecognizable,” Sarno said. “Even knowing it, you’re in awe of the destruction of this disaster. Temporarily, it has changed the landscape.”
Funds and other assets, including federal aid, will assist with the “rebirth” of the tornado-damaged areas across Springfield, Sarno said.
Code enforcement commissioner Steven J. Desilets said that his idea of a tornado was something you would see on television in some faraway state.
He and his staff have seen the destruction and have heard the stories of those who lost their homes and belongings in Springfield, saying it is “heartbreaking.” He has also heard of those who had “close calls,” and of the “many heroes” who came to the aid of others
Desilets said he learned of one young boy who told his mother he was watching a tornado on television, and was taking his younger sister to the basement. His mother did not realize the tornado was local, and would rip through their roof, he said.
Hassett said the nature of the tornado is that one property can be in shambles and a house next door can be undamaged. St. Anthony’s Church was undamaged on Island Pond Road, while “just up the hill” Cathedral High School and Dryden School had significant damage.
Helen R. Caulton-Harris, the city’s director of health and human services, said that hundreds of people have been left homeless and displaced by the tornado damage, including 40 families and a total of nearly 250 people still receiving shelter at the MassMutual Center early last week.
The numbers had been 78 families and nearly 300 people in the days following the tornado, but 38 families have been re-housed, Caulton-Harris said. New people continued to arrive last week, she said.
The people who have been displaced are getting food, services and some counseling, and even rides to appointments. The children at the MassMutual Center have been picked up by school buses there.
Mental health counseling and trauma services will need to increase as people realize how much their lives have changed, Caulton-Harris said.
The impact varies, as some of the displaced are “faring well and others appear to be very fragile,” she said.
However, Caulton-Harris said she and others are witnessing the “enormity of the human spirit” and seeing so much concern and compassion from every corner of Springfield.
“I knew I lived in a great city, but this disaster has really brought out the special aspect of the people who live here and their spirit,” Caulton-Harris said. “People have just been overwhelmingly kind and compassionate.”
Sarno said the resiliency of the people he has met and seen who were victims of the tornado is “unbelievable.”
“Many times in adversity, you see the true character, good or bad,” Sarno said. “We have seen the good.”