Funnel Clouds
In all of recorded history there had never been a tornado in our little town of Southbridge until June 1, 2011. Not to say funnel clouds are unheard of in Massachusetts. Generally there are one or two tornado watches per year resulting in minor damage. But never have we seen multiple "watches" turn into "warnings" and head straight for our town. This was a day none of us will forget.
We are a busy family during the school year and the television is rarely on, unless the kids are watching cartoons. The only news or weather forecast I get is a quick 60 second blurb in between radio programming if I happen to be in the car at the right time. So to say this storm caught our family off guard would be an accurate statement. During school commute time I heard a report of thunderstorms possibly developing in the early evening. My only concern was that Chad might get wet grilling the steaks for dinner and Cameron's soccer coach would have to cancel his practice. The sky started darkening around 4pm and we could hear rumblings in the distance. Wednesday night is when Hayley has dance classes for over 3 hours straight, at least she would be inside and not effected by the weather... Chad was finishing up dinner 10 minutes before 5pm when we left for the dance studio. Rain had just begun to fall as we got in the car. I told everyone I would be right back and we could sit down for dinner... We passed the baseball field and noticed they were packing up and going home. Cancelled because of the lightning flashes that had just started. Seemed perfectly normal. Usually I just drop her off at the door and she walks up to the 3rd floor studio, but this night I needed to buy tickets for the up coming recital so I parked the car and dashed across the parking lot as the sky opened up and started to pour, turning dry concrete into instant puddles beneath my feet.
When I got upstairs everyone was talking about the storms and the tornado that had just touched down in Springfield, a city 30 miles west of us. That sparked my memory of something my mom had said around mid day about the entire northeast being under a tornado watch. At the time it seemed so vague, I didn't take it seriously. The building manager came up from her office on the second floor and told everyone they needed to get down to the basement now. The tornado producing storm that hit Springfield just touched down in Monson, a small town 17 miles to our west, and it's headed straight for Southbridge. Hayley and I debated for a minute. She wanted to stay, I wanted to dash home. One of the dance instructors convinced us to stay, she had lived in Kansas and said the whole thing will be over really quickly and then they will go back up and have classes.
The sky was very dark at this point, it looked like night outside. I called Chad on our way downstairs and told him to quickly turn the tv on so he could see how serious this was, we were on our way to the basement and they needed to do the same back at home. I was extremely thankful that we have a basement, but nervous about how long he would have to keep a busy two year old down there with nothing to do. The mood at the basement Hayley and I were in was very upbeat. A lot of laughing and joking. The waitresses from the ground level restaurant brought soda down for everyone and candles from their tables after the lights flickered the first time. The power did go completely out eventually but by then the candles were all lit and a few people had flashlights. I kept trying to get through to Chad, but being underground limits the cell reception. Another mom had just arrived and told us she actually saw the funnel cloud on her way. It was over near Emma's school. I went with a couple of other moms to sneak upstairs and take a peek, this situation was a first for most of us and we were curious. I justified my action by saying I really just wanted to try my cell upstairs. As soon as we got up there it was obvious that the storm had passed. The sky was much brighter and just looked like a typical cloudy day outside. We looked out the window and saw the black mass travel off into the distance. The restaurant employees were already upstairs with the tv on. It showed the storm system and they were reporting that Southbridge had just taken a direct hit. It was a very surreal feeling to be standing in Southbridge while that announcement was being made.
By now it was 10 minutes until 6pm. The dancers all headed back upstairs and I went out to my car. The rain was gone, the only unusual thing was all the leaves scattered across the parking lot and cars. We are used to seeing the red, yellow, and brown leaves littering the ground in the fall. But the fresh spring green leaves scattered about was odd. I hadn't given too much thought to being scared. Tornadoes were something that you only see on tv, so it didn't seem real to me yet. Emma and Cameron had a much different reaction. They had just come up from the basement when I got home. They were both very agitated. Emma said her mouth was all dry and teeth were chattering. Cameron said he couldn't stop shaking. Chad told me Emma completely freaked out downstairs and thought they were all going to die. The one person I was nervous about being in the basement, Preston, did great. Just sat on Chad's lap the whole time. They had the tv in the living room turned up loud so they could hear it downstairs. We turned it off to eat dinner. Which had been sitting cold on the counter for an hour, no one seemed to mind. Emma was non stop nervous chatter the whole meal. After she rambled on about everything she could think to say she made us go around the table and each take turns telling what we were thinking about when the tornado came. We did our best to comfort her to no avail. She didn't touch her dinner because her stomach hurt. She refused to go upstairs to read a book and get her mind off things because that was too far away from the basement. She finally agreed to bring books downstairs.
We turned the tv back on while cleaning up after dinner. Wondering if they had more information about the damage in Southbridge and where the storm was now. We didn't expect to see that two new tornado producing storms had formed. One way up to the north and a second one in Springfield, heading our way. Hayley had just called from the Studio to say they were closing early, Chad went down to pick her up. I grabbed a bag and stuffed it with things we could take down to the basement to keep the younger kids from having such a hard time. I sent them to my room, shut the door, and they watched Sponge Bob to drown out the sound of the news. Emma was terrified of the news reports. She covered her ears and ran passed the tv each time she had to come out of my room to do something. Hayley, Chad, and I were glued to the tv watching the next one get closer. It soon became apparent it was going to hit the town to our north, Sturbridge. We listened to the reporter describe the mile wide funnel cloud she had just run from. Again the surreal feeling that it was all happening right here, right now. Around 7pm the weather forecasts started to mellow out. They were spending longer stretches of time showing damage and not the "immediate threat, prepare to take shelter" that we had been experiencing for the past couple of hours. The final storm to come through lasted the longest. I have never seen so much lighting before. Constant flash after flash with no breaks in between for about 30 minutes. I was exhausted and the first one to go to bed. The kids all slept in the living room. So You Think You Can Dance came on and that made things feel normal, everyone relaxed.
School was canceled the next morning. It was a beautiful day, hard to believe anything had happened the night before. My side of town was not damaged, I was getting a little annoyed that the kids were missing a day of school for nothing. Later in the day I had to drive through the other side of town and soon realized just how real it had all been. It was eerie to see the path the tornado had taken, marked by the path of destruction. Traffic was stop and go through this area so I had plenty of time to take it all in. This is one of those "tunnel of tree" roads that are so common in Massachusetts. The landscape is now completely changed for about a 1/4 mile. The trees all down revealing houses you never knew were there, all stripped of their siding, roofs collapsed, garages leveled, cars smashed, buildings impaled by limbs. Police blocking side streets and families out in their yards with bright orange X's across their front doors indicating their homes are not safe to enter. It seems to be such a large area because you have to pass by it so slow. But really it is just a small stretch of land. It's hard to fathom the force that would leave them so damaged, while homes just a stones throw away are fine. Now I understand why the reporters like to point this out when they are showing the aftermath. It just doesn't seem possible.
Years from now, when the kids are grown I know we will all remember the tornado in Southbridge. It reminds me of being a kid during the Mt. St. Helens eruption and how that seeped into the culture of my youth. The images I still carry with me in my mind. Probably the only things that I remember from that year in my life. How will my children remember the events of June 1st 2011? A conversation I look forward to having in about 20 years.
We are a busy family during the school year and the television is rarely on, unless the kids are watching cartoons. The only news or weather forecast I get is a quick 60 second blurb in between radio programming if I happen to be in the car at the right time. So to say this storm caught our family off guard would be an accurate statement. During school commute time I heard a report of thunderstorms possibly developing in the early evening. My only concern was that Chad might get wet grilling the steaks for dinner and Cameron's soccer coach would have to cancel his practice. The sky started darkening around 4pm and we could hear rumblings in the distance. Wednesday night is when Hayley has dance classes for over 3 hours straight, at least she would be inside and not effected by the weather... Chad was finishing up dinner 10 minutes before 5pm when we left for the dance studio. Rain had just begun to fall as we got in the car. I told everyone I would be right back and we could sit down for dinner... We passed the baseball field and noticed they were packing up and going home. Cancelled because of the lightning flashes that had just started. Seemed perfectly normal. Usually I just drop her off at the door and she walks up to the 3rd floor studio, but this night I needed to buy tickets for the up coming recital so I parked the car and dashed across the parking lot as the sky opened up and started to pour, turning dry concrete into instant puddles beneath my feet.
When I got upstairs everyone was talking about the storms and the tornado that had just touched down in Springfield, a city 30 miles west of us. That sparked my memory of something my mom had said around mid day about the entire northeast being under a tornado watch. At the time it seemed so vague, I didn't take it seriously. The building manager came up from her office on the second floor and told everyone they needed to get down to the basement now. The tornado producing storm that hit Springfield just touched down in Monson, a small town 17 miles to our west, and it's headed straight for Southbridge. Hayley and I debated for a minute. She wanted to stay, I wanted to dash home. One of the dance instructors convinced us to stay, she had lived in Kansas and said the whole thing will be over really quickly and then they will go back up and have classes.
The sky was very dark at this point, it looked like night outside. I called Chad on our way downstairs and told him to quickly turn the tv on so he could see how serious this was, we were on our way to the basement and they needed to do the same back at home. I was extremely thankful that we have a basement, but nervous about how long he would have to keep a busy two year old down there with nothing to do. The mood at the basement Hayley and I were in was very upbeat. A lot of laughing and joking. The waitresses from the ground level restaurant brought soda down for everyone and candles from their tables after the lights flickered the first time. The power did go completely out eventually but by then the candles were all lit and a few people had flashlights. I kept trying to get through to Chad, but being underground limits the cell reception. Another mom had just arrived and told us she actually saw the funnel cloud on her way. It was over near Emma's school. I went with a couple of other moms to sneak upstairs and take a peek, this situation was a first for most of us and we were curious. I justified my action by saying I really just wanted to try my cell upstairs. As soon as we got up there it was obvious that the storm had passed. The sky was much brighter and just looked like a typical cloudy day outside. We looked out the window and saw the black mass travel off into the distance. The restaurant employees were already upstairs with the tv on. It showed the storm system and they were reporting that Southbridge had just taken a direct hit. It was a very surreal feeling to be standing in Southbridge while that announcement was being made.
By now it was 10 minutes until 6pm. The dancers all headed back upstairs and I went out to my car. The rain was gone, the only unusual thing was all the leaves scattered across the parking lot and cars. We are used to seeing the red, yellow, and brown leaves littering the ground in the fall. But the fresh spring green leaves scattered about was odd. I hadn't given too much thought to being scared. Tornadoes were something that you only see on tv, so it didn't seem real to me yet. Emma and Cameron had a much different reaction. They had just come up from the basement when I got home. They were both very agitated. Emma said her mouth was all dry and teeth were chattering. Cameron said he couldn't stop shaking. Chad told me Emma completely freaked out downstairs and thought they were all going to die. The one person I was nervous about being in the basement, Preston, did great. Just sat on Chad's lap the whole time. They had the tv in the living room turned up loud so they could hear it downstairs. We turned it off to eat dinner. Which had been sitting cold on the counter for an hour, no one seemed to mind. Emma was non stop nervous chatter the whole meal. After she rambled on about everything she could think to say she made us go around the table and each take turns telling what we were thinking about when the tornado came. We did our best to comfort her to no avail. She didn't touch her dinner because her stomach hurt. She refused to go upstairs to read a book and get her mind off things because that was too far away from the basement. She finally agreed to bring books downstairs.
We turned the tv back on while cleaning up after dinner. Wondering if they had more information about the damage in Southbridge and where the storm was now. We didn't expect to see that two new tornado producing storms had formed. One way up to the north and a second one in Springfield, heading our way. Hayley had just called from the Studio to say they were closing early, Chad went down to pick her up. I grabbed a bag and stuffed it with things we could take down to the basement to keep the younger kids from having such a hard time. I sent them to my room, shut the door, and they watched Sponge Bob to drown out the sound of the news. Emma was terrified of the news reports. She covered her ears and ran passed the tv each time she had to come out of my room to do something. Hayley, Chad, and I were glued to the tv watching the next one get closer. It soon became apparent it was going to hit the town to our north, Sturbridge. We listened to the reporter describe the mile wide funnel cloud she had just run from. Again the surreal feeling that it was all happening right here, right now. Around 7pm the weather forecasts started to mellow out. They were spending longer stretches of time showing damage and not the "immediate threat, prepare to take shelter" that we had been experiencing for the past couple of hours. The final storm to come through lasted the longest. I have never seen so much lighting before. Constant flash after flash with no breaks in between for about 30 minutes. I was exhausted and the first one to go to bed. The kids all slept in the living room. So You Think You Can Dance came on and that made things feel normal, everyone relaxed.
School was canceled the next morning. It was a beautiful day, hard to believe anything had happened the night before. My side of town was not damaged, I was getting a little annoyed that the kids were missing a day of school for nothing. Later in the day I had to drive through the other side of town and soon realized just how real it had all been. It was eerie to see the path the tornado had taken, marked by the path of destruction. Traffic was stop and go through this area so I had plenty of time to take it all in. This is one of those "tunnel of tree" roads that are so common in Massachusetts. The landscape is now completely changed for about a 1/4 mile. The trees all down revealing houses you never knew were there, all stripped of their siding, roofs collapsed, garages leveled, cars smashed, buildings impaled by limbs. Police blocking side streets and families out in their yards with bright orange X's across their front doors indicating their homes are not safe to enter. It seems to be such a large area because you have to pass by it so slow. But really it is just a small stretch of land. It's hard to fathom the force that would leave them so damaged, while homes just a stones throw away are fine. Now I understand why the reporters like to point this out when they are showing the aftermath. It just doesn't seem possible.
Years from now, when the kids are grown I know we will all remember the tornado in Southbridge. It reminds me of being a kid during the Mt. St. Helens eruption and how that seeped into the culture of my youth. The images I still carry with me in my mind. Probably the only things that I remember from that year in my life. How will my children remember the events of June 1st 2011? A conversation I look forward to having in about 20 years.