Damage to municipal buildings in West Springfield was assessed at $100,000.
Damage to buildings on Union Street in West Springfield is seen from above a week after the June 1 tornado.WEST SPRINGFIELD – Mayor Edward J. Gibson has reported the damage to private property due to the June 1 tornado in his city has come to about $9.5 million. The city’s assessors came up with that figure on the destruction, which was mostly in the city’s Merrick neighborhood.
So far, the city has condemned 14 damaged buildings and is still evaluating another 11. About another 100 buildings were affected, but were deemed reparable.
As for damage to municipal buildings, Gibson said that comes out to about $100,000. A window was broken at Memorial School and the roof on a sewage pumping station on Route 5 was damaged as was the roof on the Agawam Avenue trash transfer station.
The tornado also damaged the fence at the city-owned Union Street Cemetery, where it also overturned and broke off some headstones.
Gibson said Federal Emergency Management Administration representatives are still working with the Historical Commission to tally the damage there.
Gibson encouraged anyone who has not yet registered with FEMA to get assistance relative to the tornado do so.
Wilfredo Quinones Dae, who manages FEMA’s disaster recovery center on the third floor of West Springfield’s municipal building, estimated that it has helped about 500 people register for benefits so far. He said 17 people sought help Friday and by 2:30 p.m. Tuesday his office had worked with 13 more people.