2011 Tornado

On Wednesday, tornadoes paid a visit to Western, MA. We were VERY lucky and received no damage. Our basement flooded, but we still have our roof! Almost every town that borders us was severely damaged during the series of storms that came through. I was home with Dillon and the daycare kids that afternoon. I could see there were storms coming and I brought the kids inside and turned on the news. Having been through a tornado before in 1995, I recognized that conditions were perfect for a tornado. It started hailing golf ball sized hail and the sky turned a greenish yellow. I knew it was time to get the kiddos into the basement. We spent about an hour down there. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy keeping four toddlers busy in a basement. Well, I should say, it wasn't easy keeping them busy with SAFE activities in a basement! Thank goodness we have a sofa, TV, and rug down there. We also have tons of baby toys from Dillon. The kids actually had a blast. I watched the footage on TV and saw a HUGE tornado go right across the Connecticut River into Springfield. When it looked like things were over I brought all the kids upstairs and they went home. Minutes after that, another BIGGER storm came through. Thankfully it didn't hit us because I was not prepared for this one. Some of our friends and family live in some of the affected towns and we were very worried. Many people we know had some VERY close calls, but are all ok. So many people will be without power for weeks and hundreds of homes and businesses are completely demolished. Here are some pictures of the tornado and its damage. This photo is from Masslive.com. It was taken in Springfield. Masslive.com...Springfield:

This photo was taken by our friend Robert Cheney in Brimfield. We USED to take our boat here. Sadly, this is where one of the fatalities occurred:

This photo was also taken by Robert Cheney:

This photo was taken at dawn by Robert Cheney in Monson, MA. Monson was one of the towns hit the hardest. This was their Congregational Church:

And this is the footage I watched from my basement. I think this is one of the most incredible things I've ever seen.