Tornadoes Bring Destruction To Central Mass.
This article was updated at 1 p.m. June 2
The Southbridge Municipal Airport is in ruins this morning after a tornado touched down at the facility Wednesday evening, according to Southbridge police.
"Airplanes flipped over, the hangar totally destroyed," Sgt. Jose Dingui said this morning. "The whole airport was destroyed."
Nearby on Route 169, the same twister crossed the highway and caused heavy damage to the Rosemeade Apartments, tearing off roofs, Dingui said.
"A dumpster was moved at least 400 feet," he said. "Cars were on top of each other. A couple of cars were lifted."
Dingui said that there were injuries reported, but none of them life threatening. Everyone was accounted for this morning, he said. Police, DPW and fire crews were working to clear trees and debris from roads.
In Sturbridge, there were reports of a tornado crossing I-84 and Route 15. A Days Inn on Route 15 was heavily damaged by fallen trees.
Michael Glick, the general manager of the Publick House, which is located nearby, said he spoke to one of the Days Inn owners last night who told him the building was a total loss. Owner Jay Patel could not be immediately reached this morning.
"Guests were coming out of the trees with their belongings," Glick said.
Glick said that 40 or 50 Publick House hotel guests and people off the street waited out the two reported tornadoes in Sturbridge last night huddled in the Publick House basement.
"It was dark and hot," Glick said. "It was pretty scary."
But the hotel and banquet center was lucky to avoid damages. A tornado passed behind the back parking lot and sheared hundreds of trees, Glick said.
"Two or three hundred trees are toothpicks," he said.
Dozens of large trees have made a private access road to Route 15 impassable, he said.
Old Sturbridge Village also avoided damage, but is closed for today of a power outage, it said in a press release. A tornado touched down in a field on the museum's property, which caused down trees.
CEO Jim Donahue said that closing is a precautionary step that allows for cleanup and that OSV would be open Friday, with weekend events continuing as scheduled.
Shaun Suhoski, Sturbridge's town administrator, said that he witnessed one tornado head towards Town Hall yesterday evening before veering off down Route 131, where it collapsed a vehicle bay at Sturbridge Autobody and heavily damaged the building.
There is heavy damage to homes and property on Willard Road, Farquhar Road, Holland Road and Fiske Hill Road, he said.
"There's really substantial property damage," Suhoski said. "The good news is no fatalities and no serious injuries."
Many of the main arteries in town were still closed off as of noontime Thursday while crews, which included members of the National Guard, worked to clear trees and restore power. Approximately 1,400 households did not have power as of 12:50 p.m. today, he said.
Charlton was largely spared, with homes sustaining some damage but no reports of trees fallen on cars or homes, according to Police Chief James Pervier. The storm cut across the corner of the town near Southbridge, Pervier said.
"When I went around last night, things were overturned but nothing like to the south and west of us," Pervier said.
Bruce Desrosiers, owner of Desrosiers Insurance in Southbridge, said that most homeowner's insurance policies cover wind storm damage, which includes tornadoes.
Desrosiers already had a dozen phone calls about storm damage last night.
"I'm up to my armloads in claims right now," Desrosiers said.
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